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AFM Magazine


6 Keys to Effective Defensive Communication: From the Sideline to the Field

by: AFM Editorial Staff
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In five years as either the defensive coordinator or head coach at Olathe North High School in Kansas, John McCall’s teams won four state championships. In the other year they were runner-up, meaning that for five straight seasons Olathe North was in the state title game. The past three seasons McCall has served as DC under head coach Gene Weir at Richland High School in North Richland Hills, TX.

McCall believes effective communication is the key to a successful defense. “Breakdowns in communication directly cause breakdowns in your defense,” according to McCall. “A mistake in the communication process starts a chain reaction that usually is negative for a defense. First, the defense will not align properly. Second, bad alignment may cause the players to read the wrong key. Now pressure and coverage will not be coordinated and you have the risk of allowing an explosive play.”

Coach McCall shared with AFM six ways to effectively communicate with your defense.

#1: Getting the call from the sideline to the field.

“In our process we use two coaches on the sideline to communicate the defensive call to our players. As defensive coordinator, I give the initial call to our secondary coach who signals the entire defense. Each player must get the initial call from the secondary coach because of our no huddle structure. Each player on defense is already deployed in our 3-4 shell. The Mike linebacker then echoes the call in the box.

“As an example I may say, ‘Nickel Strong Combo Storm’ which means we’re in a nickel alignment. ‘Strong’ adjusts our linebacker alignment. ‘Combo’ is a second technique of dividing the field into halves and ‘Storm’ is the pressure call.”

#2: Determine strength by aligning right or left.

“This allows our players in the middle of the field to communicate. The linebackers and safeties make the call based on formation and/or field position or if there is a specific player we want to match up with. The ‘strength’ call aligns our defense and splits the field. It allows us from a pressure and coverage standpoint to have the field broken down into a strong and weak side. The ‘Strength’ call properly aligns our linebackers.”

#3: Splitting the field in half: combo and flip.

“This is a second way of splitting the field in half and not just limiting our call to a ‘Strength’ call. We refer to this call as ‘combo and flip.’ The Mike and stack linebackers in the middle of the field can then split the field with the tag of ‘combo or flip.’ This refers to the side the running back in the shotgun is aligned on. ‘Combo’ refers to one side and ‘Flip’ refers to the opposite alignment. All of our opponents’ last fall ran out of the Shotgun formation. As a coaching point, we want a method that splits the field other than strong and weak. This allows our defense to more effectively break down pass protection and attack the run game.”

#4: Communicating ‘Force’ as it applies to the perimeter running game and the running back in the passing game.

“On both sides we communicate force. Force sets an edge in the perimeter running game and accounts for the running back in the flats. Explosive plays in both the running game and the passing game occur when a defense does not understand who the force player is on both sides of the field. Force cannot be determined until the entire defense knows the pressure and the coverage they’re in for that play.”

#5: Blitz Communication.

“This is a two-way communication from the linebackers to the D-line and from the linebackers to the safeties. They all communicate so they can adjust coverage accordingly. Our attack in the blitz game has gap integrity and coverage calls are coordinated with blitz calls.

“For example, a safety cannot make the proper coverage call if he does not know if the linebacker is in pressure or coverage. Also, in the communication process, if we have miscommunication between the D-line and the linebackers, we may have two players attacking the same gap. Therefore, a breakdown is caused in our gap integrity.”

#6: Coverage Communication.

“This comes from the sideline to the safeties if we want a specific call. If not, the safeties make the call based on our game plan. Once they make the call, they communicate coverage to the linebackers and the corners. For example, if the coverage call is not coordinated between the safety and the corner, this is often a result of turning the receiver loose vertically down the field.”





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