The Five Most Important Drills for Defensive Line Play
Regardless of the type of defensive scheme your coaching staff is running, it has become evident in today’s game that defensive line play is the key…
Topic
Defense
128 articles
Defending the Spread Passing Attack
How to stop the basic concepts and route combinations of the spread and how to teach and drill your defense to shut down the bread and butter pass co…
Advanced Linebacker Run Techniques & Drills
I have used the acronym SACKER to summarize the six most important items a linebacker needs to be efficient and effective. S - Stance A - Alignment C…
Defensive Philosophy Defensive Line Movement
The key to efficient defensive line play is gap control. Like all coaching staffs, we meet to discuss what, if any, changes we would like to make tha…
Improving Your Overall Defense
You can improve your overall defense in three phases – pursuit, tackling, and turnovers. Each drill we’ve included allows you to be fundamentally sou…
Creating an Identity for Your Defense
We made the switch from a base 4-3 to a 3-3-5 in the off season. Needless to say, we did not know what to expect and there were some players thinking…
USING NUMBER KEYS TO TEACH PASS COVERAGE
I have used number keys to teach pass coverage because it is simple and once a player understands the numbering system, it is easy to remember. I hav…
How Can You Make Your Linebackers Faster?
Can your linebackers have great acceleration without possessing top-end speed? Yes, if they learn how to accelerate before their opponents. In…
Defending Trips
Part 3 of this series will discuss our adjustment to motion and how we use certain coverages against certain formations and different situations. Bef…
DEFENDING THE TRIPS OFFENSE Part II
Part 1 of ‘Defending the Trips Offense’ covered our very basic defense against the spread offense. Although this base has worked extremely well, we h…
Arkansas Tech Defense’s Teaching Progression
Our philosophy at Arkansas Tech University is to be an attacking and dictating style of defense. We want to play with great intensity and confidence…
Getting Another Look From A Four-Man Front
We have been running some sort of four-man front for the past 10 years, whether we were a 4-3 or, recently, a 4-2. We preach the same philosophy that…
The ‘Monster’ Man Comes Back to Life
Back in the 1960’s, when many of today’s high school coaches and even some college coaches weren’t born yet, ‘Monster Defenses’ were the rage. These…
Defensive Line Setting the Tempo By Attacking and Reacting
My philosophy as a D-line coach is to be aggressive and stop the run. As a defensive lineman, your main job is to stop the run. By stopping the run,…
Change the Math in Your Favor
If you can control the ability to get free runners at quarterbacks in blitzing scenarios, then why wouldn’t you? The utilization of some read techniq…
The Benefits of swarming to the Ball
Most people that have had experience playing and coaching the game of football would agree that an open field tackle, which sounds simple, can in rea…
Fundamentals and Drills for Defensive Line Success
By Steve Tirrell Defensive Line Coach and Special Teams Coordinator • University of Massachusetts When you install a fundamental base and give player…
Creating Problems with the Multiple Defense
Meshing the 4-4, 4-3, 3-4, 5-2, 5-3 and 3-5 from the 3-5 Base Defense By Rob Manchester • Defensive Coordinator • Georgia Military College The Base 3…