Drills with a Purpose Practice Systems That Match Your Defensive Objectives

Whitworth practices 11-player drills that match the goals of their defense – pursuit, interception, and two-minute drills.

Most coaches understand the importance of drilling with a specific purpose in mind. Most educators have stressed the importance of teaching toward a specific objective. However, not all coaches align their drills with their team’s main objectives. We have intentionally aligned our practice drills to match, teach, and reinforce our main defensive objectives.

Our defense at Whitworth University is built on four objectives:

• Attempt to get eleven defender to the ball each play.
• Create turnovers.
• Play fast and play smart.
• Defend from the inside-out of the offensive formation and make the ball go deep and wide both in the run and pass game.
  

First Defensive Period:

Immediately after our team warm-up, the first defensive period of each practice begins with one of seven defensive team drills that we rotate daily. Each of these drills emphasizes one of our defensive objectives and starts our practice together as an entire defense, in an attempt to set a good tone for the rest of the practice. Three are variations of a pursuit drill (attempting to get eleven defenders to the ball each play), three are variations of an interception drill (creating turnovers), and one is a two-minute drill (play fast, play smart). All seven of these drills also emphasize our main defensive objective – defend from the inside out of the offensive formation and make the ball go deep and wide both in the run and pass game.

Pursuit Drill # 1 (Diagram #1) Set up: five cones serve as the OL, one cone between each hash and number with one cone five yards from the LOS on each hash. A coach simulates the QB (no ball), a runner is on each hash mark cone with a ball in his hands, and all eleven defensive players line up at their position.

Drill: The coach simulates a cadence and snap, and then turns to his right or left as if he is tossing the ball. If he tosses right, the ball carrier on the right takes off running and goes outside of the widest cone and down the sidelines. The defensive players take a pursuit angle so that they can pursue and tag off on the RB. All eleven defensive players must tag the RB before that turn is complete. Emphasis is on not following your own colored jersey and getting eleven hats to the ball. Defenders should not hold up the RB and the RB should not stop running until all eleven defensive players have tagged off.

Pursuit Drill #2 (Diagram #2) Set-up: Five cones serve as the OL with two cones five yards deep in the backfield aligned on the outside shoulder of each guard cone. A QB with a ball is lined up behind the OL cones, a RB stands behind each of the cones in the backfield, and all eleven defensive players are lined up at their position.

Drill:  The QB will turn his back to the defense and give the RB either a 1, 2 or 3 call (1 means dive, 2 means toss and 3 means swing pass) and will give him the direction, right or left. The defense will react to the play and get eleven hats to the ball by touching off on the RB. Again, the RB keeps running up the field until all defenders have tagged off.

Pursuit Drill #3 (Diagram #3) Set-up: Five cones serve as the OL. A QB is lined up behind the OL cones with a ball. Four receivers are lined up behind the defense, twelve yards from the LOS. Line up one receiver between the hash and the OT on each side and one receiver on the numbers on each side. All eleven defensive players are lined up at their position.

Drill:  The QB simulates a cadence and snap and then drops back and passes the ball to one of the four receivers. The defense reacts to the pass drop with the DL rushing the pass and the LBs and DBs going to their drop areas. Then all eleven players pursue to where the ball was thrown and break down moving their feet until all eleven arrive at the ball.The defense must let the intended receiver catch the ball.
 

Interception Drill #1 (Diagram #4) Set-up: Five cones serve as the OL. A QB is lined up behind the OL cones with a ball. The defense will be lined up with all eleven players at their positions.

Drill: The QB will simulate a cadence and snap and will then throw an interception to one of the defenders including the DL. The defense will execute their assignment and reaction to the pass while the player making the interception will yell “fire” and head toward the nearest sideline. The other ten defenders will run to get in front of him making a simulated block above the waist. The first two offensive players we want to block are the intended receiver and the QB.
 

Interception Drill #2 (Diagram #5) Set-up: Five cones serve as the OL. A QB is lined up behind the OL cones with a ball. Three offensive players are lined up on the L.O.S. between the OL cones and the hash. They become aiming points for our defensive players to block after the interception. The defense will be lined up with all eleven players at their positions.

Drill: The QB will simulate a cadence and snap and then throw an interception. The three offensive players, on the side where the ball was thrown, start running out to the interception as tacklers. The defense will execute their assignment and reaction to the pass. The defensive player making the interception will yell “fire” and will head toward the nearest sideline. The other ten defenders will also head to that same sideline, attempting to get in front of him to execute a block above the waist. In this drill, our players make sure that the three potential tacklers are blocked.

Interception Drill #3  (Diagram #6) Set-up: Five cones serve as the OL. A QB is lined up behind the OL cones with a ball. Five receivers are lined up behind the defense at twelve yards deep with one receiver in each flat, one receiver in each hook, and one receiver in the middle hook. The defense will be lined up with all eleven players at their positions.

Drill: A QB will simulate a cadence and snap and then will throw the ball toward one of the five receivers. The defense will execute their assignment and reaction to the pass. In this drill, the underneath coverage will drop to a player and not just drop to designated areas. One of the players will then make the interception and yell “fire” and head up the nearest sideline. The other ten will head toward the same sideline looking for a block that will be executed above the waist.

Two Minute Drill:

Six offensive players are required for this drill (A QB, four WRs, and one RB). The drill begins on the offense’s five yard line. All eleven defenders are lined up in their defensive positions. The offense has five predetermined plays that they will rotate through as randomly called out by the QB during the drill. The five plays change each week as they are made up from the top five passing plays of the week’s opponent. The offense does not huddle and operates as quickly as possible. The defensive coach changes the defense after each play, forcing the defense to make mental adjustments continuously. The ball is moved forward ten yards after each play regardless of the play’s outcome. The drill operates faster than game pace. The drill accomplishes a number of objectives:  it gives the players multiple repetitions with the opponent’s favorite plays, it forces our players to think and execute in a pressure situation, it helps our athletes become comfortable with game speed, it prepares them for crucial game situations (end of the half, end of the game), and it serves as an excellent conditioner while still executing various defensive schemes. 
 

Obviously, there are numerous defensive drills to choose from. The main point we are attempting to emphasize is the importance of intentionally choosing drills that match specifically to the objectives you hold most important for your defense, or offense and special teams. Remember each drill or activity should have a specific purpose and your athletes should understand that purpose. This simple formula should enhance learning and improve performance.

About the authors:
Kirk Westre begins his eighth season as DC and 17th overall at Whitworth this fall. He previously was the OC at Northwestern College in St. Paul (1993-1994) and the OC at Morehead State (1989-1992). Westre was also a graduate assistant at Oregon and played at Pacific Lutheran University.

Dave Pomante enters his eighth season as D-line coach for Whitworth and also serves as the team’s strength and conditioning coach. From 1991-2002, he was the head coach at Rogers HS in Spokane. Pomante was an All-American nose guard with Whitworth, graduating in 1982.

Diagrams by Mat Johnson, Whitworth Assistant Coach