DEFENSIVE COACHES want their players to swarm to the ball and make plays. This sounds like a simple enough concept, but in reality, it’s too general and vague in principle. Drills must become specific things such as footwork, hand placement, blow delivery, etc., to put their players in the position to make plays.
In our program, we break down our defensive drills into the “ABCs” of individual skills:

    A.    Agility.

    B.    Blow Delivery.

    C.    Contact.

All defensive positions have drills in these categories and at least one drill from each category is worked on every day in practice for each position.

The following is an example of the “ABC” philosophy as it pertains to drills for linebackers.

AGILITY DRILLS:

DIAGRAM 1: Shuffle-Step And Gather Downhill Drill. The LB stands in a proper LB stance and shuffles downhill at a 45-degree angle, concentrating on using quick feet and maintaining a good stance. The LB must keep the shoulders and hips parallel to the line of scrimmage. Make sure that the LB is in a good enough stance to deliver a blow or run in any directions at anytime.



DIAGRAM 2: “W” Drill. The LB begins with a good stance and opens to a 45-degree angle into pass drop. He must settle at 5 yards while continually moving his feet. After settling, the LB then sprints 5 yards downhill at a 45-degree angle, settling and keeping his feet moving. The LB must concentrate on staying under control and maintaining a good center of gravity and pad level.



DIAGRAM 3: “T” Drill (A). The LB starts at the top cone and is positioned in a proper stance (Many combinations of drills can be done from this set up, see Diagrams 3 and 4). The LB sprints forward with a low pad level, then breaks down at the center cone. Have a coach at the center cone instruct the direction the LB is to break toward. Immediately, the LB shuffles to the next cone, turns at a 45-degree angle and pass-drops back to the starting cone.



DIAGRAM 4: “T” Drill (B). The coach instructs the LB which direction to go toward. Upon receiving the verbal command, the LB immediately shuffles and sprints downhill toward the first cone, then shuffles laterally toward the middle cone. After reaching the middle cone, the LB turns and pass-drops at a 45-degree angle out of drill. These drills can be run to either side.



‰    Bag Drills. Many varieties of LB drills can be run using bags. A few we commonly use are “one-foot-in,” “two feet in,” “shuffle overs,” “zig-zag throughs,” “sprint and backpedal” and “cross-overs.” Make sure that the LB concentrates on keeping the pads level, hips squared, eyes up and quick feet.

BLOW DELIVERY:

Blow delivery drills can be worked against either a man or on a sled.

‰    6-Point Explosion Drill. The LB keeps his knees, feet and hands on the ground. Place a blocker in a

2-point stance crowding the LB, one step away. On a one count, the LB shoots his hands toward the breastplate as fast as he can and rolls his hips into the blocker. Instruct the LB to concentrate on hand placement, being quick to the target and keeping the hips squared.

‰    4-Point Explosion Drill. This drill operates the same as the previous drill, except that the LB’s hands are now placed at his side and not on the ground. The blocker is in a 3-point stance, crowding the LB. On the count, the blocker takes one hard, aggressive step toward the LB, shoots his hands quickly to the blocker and presses him.

‰    2-Point Block-Protection Drill. Place the LB in a good stance and have him work against block protection both left and right (always work with the player’s “non-dominant side” first). The blockers attack the LB from an angle 2-3 yards away from the LB. The LB steps with the foot that the block is coming from and shoot his hands up, butts with his facemask, rolls his hips, extends to get off the block and runs toward the ball.

CONTACT:
The “contact” portion of the “ABC” drills are all drills that involve tackling. Each coach has his own unique method for teaching proper tackling fundamentals, but one thing we’ve found is that these drills provide major help in is with finishing the tackle.

In all tackling drills, we also work on getting the ball. We teach our players to put their face mask on the ball. Once a tackle is secure, the other defenders try to strip the ball.