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AFM Magazine


The Situation

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Pete Saylor, Assistant Coach, Southern Columbia High School, Catawissa, PA. AFM subscriber since 1999.

The field position does not put us in a panic mode. The staff has reminded the team that our opponent has some outstanding athletes with the ability to make some big plays. It is important that we keep our composure over the course of the game. We know that they like to take advantage of their team speed. With that said, we feel we can stay in our base defense and have success. The base front consists of the tackle to the strong side lining up on the outside shoulder of the guard and controlling that gap with slight penetration. The backside tackle will line up on the inside shoulder of his guard and control his gap the same way as the frontside tackle. The more physical of our defensive ends will be on the strong side. He will align outside of the offensive tackle. His key will be the block on the tackle. When he releases down, he must come off his back hip and look for a lead blocker coming at him. He needs to keep his outside arm free to make the tackle. The backside defensive end will line up outside the backside tackle with a slight tilt in his stance. He will need to attack through the outside hip of the tackle to get a push. The Sam backer will align one yard off the line of scrimmage and head up on the tight slot. His inside foot should be up in his stance.

As we established from our scouting report, when the slot goes in motion, he needs to prepare himself to help tackle the split end on the reverse. The Mike needs to align in the B gap on the side of the 3 technique tackle. His inside foot will be up. His responsibility is actually the A gap – as he reads the flow of the backfield he must honor his responsibility first. The Will must align in the B gap to the 1 technique tackle. This is his gap responsibility. As he reads the flow of the backfield, he must be willing to step up in that gap, if necessary, based upon the location of the football. This leads us to the secondary. We are in our base defense which is technically a 3 deep zone. The corners can line up seven yards off the number one receivers and two yards outside as a general rule. Their eyes need to be on the quarterback, ball, and receivers. On a run play he must keep outside leverage to either make the play himself or force it back inside with the help of his teammates. The corner on the split end side will start to verbally alarm his teammates of the play in progress based upon the scouting report and film study. Based on this formation, the free safety will align one yard off the line of scrimmage and one yard outside the tilted end. The strong safety’s alignment will be in the apex of the number one receiver and the offensive tackle with a depth of six yards. His key is the number two receiver. As he motions we want him to stay on the backside hip, staying square to the line of scrimmage until he crosses the center. When he doesn’t cross the center he reacts to the play (See Diagram).

Field Eagle, Cover 2

We feel very confident in our base defense. The down and distance as well as the position of the ball on the field allow us to play the scheme we are comfortable with. As long as our players are disciplined and focused with the defense called, their formation, and their assignments, we believe we can stop any offensive play. We instill this confidence through repetition in practice of the basic fundamentals of the game of football. There is no substitute for sound technique from stance all the way through completion of each play.

Bill Tierney, Secondary and Special Teams Coach, Don Bosco Prep (NJ). AFM subscriber since 2007.

Our game plan and scouting report will always dictate our game day decisions. The long return, although it would not be acceptable, would be secondary in regards to the defensive call. Our initial call would be Field Eagle (or Under) Cover 2. We put a great emphasis on an aggressive defense. Our preparation would be based on our scouting, but would emphasize the basic Wing T formations and play series.

That being said, our next concern would be their propensity for trick or gadget plays. Where on the field do they run a gadget play? Does the formation tip us the play? Many teams subscribe to the idea that after a turnover or big play on special teams to immediately take a shot because the other team is flustered. The field position dictates this because if they take a shot and are unsuccessful, they are still in second and ten. We must also take into account which is the better team? Are they going to play more conservatively because of the ramifications of the game? We want to put our players in a position to defend the run and coordinate solid coverage behind it in order to deal with either a play action pass or gadget play.

Field Eagle, Cover 2

The safeties will maintain a Cover 2 alignment. Since we are into the boundary, they will align at 12 yards deep and three yards inside the hash, towards the short side of the field. The front would be called to the field regardless of formation with adjustments on the alignment made pre-snap. The formation is to the field so the alignment would adjust accordingly. The front would shade as the Sam stands in a 9 technique over the TE. The closed end is in a 5 technique. The nose is shaded in a strong side 1 technique. The DT is in a 3 open technique and the open end is in a wide 5 technique. The Mike is in a 30 technique and the Will is in a 10 weak technique. They will take a depth of four yards off the nose of the ball. We’ll play a field and boundary corner. The free safety will mirror the Sam and press the wing to the TE/Wing combination. The BC will press the X receiver with outside leverage (unless the split exceeds 14+ yards). We would then play inside at five yards depth to maintain the forcing component of the defense. This leaves us with a nine man lateral forcing unit that is solid against the pass and run.

When the motion back starts the FC will sink and settle. The BC will identify the reverse path of the X receiver and communicate loudly ‘reverse’ to alert the field players and will then sink and settle at five yards, reading the flow of the play. When the FC identifies the run, he becomes the forcer and will get up the field at the outside shoulder of the ball carrier in order to force the carrier back to the pursuit. The Sam takes a release path and will spill the ‘first threat.’ He works up the field through the goal posts to disrupt further running lanes.

The Mike and Will read the guards and flow inside/out to the ball. The weakside DT and DE take a veer release and spill or bend accordingly. The safeties have pass responsibility first and then stack the corners forcing the play. In this case the FS will play the cutback after recognizing run. The BS will then recognize run and take a pursuit angle as the ‘home run’ stopper. We emphasize pursuit and tackling by ALL 11 players on the field. By forcing this play laterally, we have accomplished our goal and should even create a loss.

Dave Tenison, Defensive Coordinator, Jenks HS (OK). AFM subscriber since 2000.

In defending the double reverse off of this offense, here’s how we would attack the play (See Diagram):

Defending the double reserve

1. The TE will seal the defensive end.

2. The SLB has been taught to play Cutback-Boot-Reverse (CBR) and will get over the top and wrong arm the pulling guard.

3. The corner will wrong arm the halfback and make the ball spill.

4. The free safety will make the tackle on the split end.

5. Since our linebackers read guards, we should get help from the Mike linebacker and late help from the Will linebacker.

6. Our SS will redirect and take a cut off an angle on the ball.






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