A few years ago, our defense was preparing to open our season against a team that employed a “no-huddle” offense.” As we contemplated ways to prepare our players for a quick-paced attack, a thought occurred, “If the offense doesn’t need to huddle before each play, why do we?” This, in turn, lead to even more discussion as to the real purpose of the defensive huddle; that is, what is actually gained from huddling and what would we lose by not huddling?

There are certainly good reasons for defenses to huddle prior to each snap. For one, all personnel are together in one spot on the field, which can lend to team unity. If the defense begins to become rattled, a leader can easily address the squad in an attempt to regain composure. A designated player can easily relay down, distance, and other tendencies to the defensive unit and adjustments can be discussed. However, all of these benefits come at a price: mainly time and energy.

The traditional huddle method for conveying a defensive call usually relies on a single player receiving the defensive signal from the sideline, then relaying the call to the defense. This takes valuable time as the call may be signaled (sometimes twice), and then spoken (sometimes twice) before the entire defense receives it. This method also puts pressure on a single player. He needs to know all the calls and be able to get the call relayed quickly and correctly. If this player becomes injured, often times a less experienced player now is burdened with the responsibility.

With the play clock running, valuable seconds are also spent organizing a huddle, usually in the middle of the field where the ball is to be placed. While most defensive personnel will align close to the ball, the defensive backs, especially the corners, usually have to run a considerable distance to quickly align properly.

After discussing the pros and cons, we decided to scrap the traditional defensive huddle and found the decision was not only beneficial to our players, but improved our efficiency.

The No Huddle Procedure

Instead of forming a designated huddle, each player loosely aligns in a position on the field that is conducive to their normal defensive alignment. While the players are awaiting the defensive signal from the sideline, both corners are responsible for relaying the down and distance to the players in their vicinity from each side of the field. All players are encouraged to voice any tendencies they feel pertinent to the situation to those around them (examples: “watch the play-action, check screen and draw”).

All players then look to the sidelines to receive the defensive signal. As the signal comes in from the sideline, each player voice-echoes the call. We tell our players to “say what you see.” In reality, there are always a couple of players that do not pay proper attention to the signaling coach, but since the majority of their teammates are saying the call, they should still hear the call without actually seeing the signal.

By using this method, the call is relayed to the entire team after one, single signal from the coach, thus saving considerable time. Adding to this time-saving is the fact that players are already aligned where they need to be when the ball is snapped. This obviously saves energy as well. Players can now use these valuable seconds to 1) concentrate on their individual assignments for the called defense, and 2) think about any down and distance tendencies or the upcoming offensive play.

Since all players know the defensive signals, no-huddle offenses and two-minute situations are easily countered. All players know the call the second the signal is given from the sideline and are immediately ready for a quick-strike attack.

All things considered, the no-huddle defense helps players be more mentally prepared and physically sharp prior to each offensive play throughout the game. In our minds, the defensive huddle has gone the way of the dinosaur, 8-track cassettes and leather helmets.

Rich Jahner is the Defensive Coordinator at Bemidji State University. You can reach him at RichJahner@GridironStrategies.com

WHAT IF?

Q1. What if the offense audibilizes on just about every play? Do you make any defensive adjustments pre or post-snap?
Audibles are most often based on calling an offensive play that is designed specifically to be run vs. a certain defensive front or coverage. Therefore, it is of major importance that we do not show our intentions to the offense or the offensive coordinator prior to the snap. To counter audible-offenses, we try to teach our players to be patient and not show their alignments and coverage rolls pre-snap. A term our players know well is from the famous Braveheart movie… “hold… hold… hold…” Every attempt is made to find some key we can give our players as to when we think the offense has made its’ audible and we can move into position defensively. This key may be when the QB starts his cadence, moves his foot, gets under center, or brings his hands forward when in the shotgun position.

Q2. What if you face a no huddle team that relies on the short three-step passing game? Do you make any defensive adjustments?
Our philosophy changes when we encounter an offense that is going to throw a lot of short, quick passes. First off, we realize that our pass rush will be diminished by the quick three-step game; therefore, we are now more likely to move away from the more standard four-man rush and use a three-man rush, dropping an extra defender in the short passing lanes. Having five underneath defenders instead of four should take away some throwing windows in the quick game and puts an extra tackler at their point of attack. Since we are only rushing three, we want these rushers to be very aggressive in order to force the QB to throw quickly. Therefore, we allow the rushers to vacate their traditional pass rush lanes or call three-man twist games to flush the QB out of the pocket and his comfort zone.

The extra, the fifth pass defender, can also be used to “spy” the QB in this package in order to accomplish both goals of taking away the short pass and getting heat on the QB. The fifth underneath pass dropper will first drop shallow to take away the quick pass, then attack and rush the QB once he looks to throw a deeper ball downfield or has moved out of the pocket. This delayed rusher can often get a sack due to the time it takes for WRs to convert their short routes and go deep.

And, like all strategies, you have to change things up and bring 4, 5, and 6 man pressures on occasions to keep the offense guessing.