Posts in category Defensive Backs

Cover 2 Zone Defense

Jun03
2013 Leave a Comment Written by Coach Jeff

Cover 2 zone is a good coverage scheme that is popular on the high school- profession level of football. I have not seen much cover 2 at the youth level. We are probably one of the few youth football teams that use zone coverage. We do not play any cover 2, our base coverage is cover 3. Here is all the information you need to know about the cover 2 zone defense for youth football.

Alignment

Safeties play deep, 12-15 yards. They are responsible for cutting the field in half. Each safety has a deep half responsibility. I like having deep safeties, it helps preventing big plays. Nothing gets behind the safeties.
Corners are up in press, playing with outside leverage. The corners will be up close on the receivers. You want to roll up and reroute the receivers. It is vital that your corners do not give up an outside release. You want the corners to funnel the receivers inside. If a receiver gets an outside release it will be hard for the safety to cover all that ground to make a play.
Stress not allowing any outside releases. Get physical with those receivers.
The linebackers will have curl and hook zones. This varies, it all depends on the type of defense you are running.
Defensive linemen responsibly will vary, it also depends on what defense you are running. Many coaches will run cover 2 out of the 43. Having the corners play contain will allow the D-coordinator to put their defensive ends in 7 techniques. Putting DE in 7techs will help defend that c-gap, which is so often attacked in youth football.
Vital Coaching Tip- when playing zone coverage you always play high to low. This means you always want your defenders to keep receivers in front of them, must get depth. This is especially important when the offense floods a zone. You want your players to play high, then break on any underneath routes thrown.
You can get creative by having the safety roll up and the corner taking the deep half. You can have the CB and S switch responsibilities to give a change up look.

Positives

Having two good athletes deep to help prevent big plays in the pass and in the running game. These safeties need to have good range (really have to be able to fly around the field).
The corners playing press with outside leverage will mess up any timing routes. The goal is to force the receiver to the teeth of the underneath coverage.
Helps defend against sweep plays. In youth football, coaches will give their best athlete the ball on sweep plays. Having these corners up will help contain and help force RBs inside to the pursuing defenders.
You can put DEs in 7 techniques and jam tight-ends. This is also a tough look to run an off-tackle play against. We all know if you are able to stop the off tackle and sweep play in youth football you will have a great shot at winning.
Both Flats are covered, especially the wide side. Many teams including myself love attacking the flat zones. Having the corners in the flats will completely take that away. What I love to do is to attack the flat off of play-action. Playing cover 2 will eat that up.

@youth_football cover 2 is a fantastic coverage to run, if you got the studs

— Coach Ross (@MadDawgFBall) June 2, 2013

Weakness

Having a two deep safety look will give the offense a soft box. Soft box means there are 7 or less defenders in the box. If a defense gives us a 7 or less defender look we will run the ball down their throat all day. Youth football is a run heavy league, having anything less than eight defenders inside the box is a mistake (at least at the younger levels). Unless a defense has some good D-linemen that can hold two gaps, then the cover 2 isn’t a good idea, at least for youth football. I think cover 2 is soft against the run, but many people will argue that with me.
Middle of the field is wide open. When you have the safeties playing deep half the area between the safeties will usually be open. Run the two outside receivers deep and have the slot run a post- it will be there all day. Many times that middle linebacker will not get enough depth to make a tough throw to the post pattern. Running the go and post off of play-action will kill cover 2. The MIKE (middle backer) will step up for run and will not be able to recover. We had a team that ran this play against us last season and we gave up big yards on the play twice (beat our cover 3-we did not get a good enough jam on the inside receiver). The go and post patterns kill cover 3 also. See play below:

Blitzing in cover 2 will leave big gaps in the defense.
You must have athletic and disciplined safeties. These safeties must be able to cover ground quickly. Many youth football teams cannot afford to take two of their best athletes and put them 12 yards deep out of the play. Again, youth football is a running league!! I wouldn’t use cover 2 zone in youth football.

Check out another play that will beat cover 2:

@youth_football #offense The Sting Route we discussed yesterday – vs. Cov 2 – Mirror Routes -pbs.twimg.com/media/AyH-jruC…

— Coach Ross (@MadDawgFBall) June 2, 2013

Posted in Coaching Defense, Defense 3-5-3, Defense 44, Defense 52, Defense 53, Defense 62, Defensive Line, General Coaching Tips, Linebackers, Pass Coverage - Tagged cover 2 zone defense

Approaching Youth Football Defense

Jun04
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Coach Jeff

Playing great youth football defense is all about playing with attitude. Stress these four defensive goals and you will have great defensive success.

Defense

Play harder than your opponent. The team that gives the best effort will always give themselves a chance to win. Pride your defense on playing with great effort, attitude, and toughness. Have the mentality that no other team will work harder than us in practices and in games.
Stop the run. The entire success of a youth football offense is based entirely on the offense’s ability to run the ball successfully. When implementing or creating a defensive scheme make sure it is designed to stop the run. Stopping the run starts up front. If you control the line of scrimmage you will control the game. So make sure you spend a good amount of time working on solid defensive line play. Also, work in some run blitzes. Have a few blitzes that stop inside runs and have some blitzes that stop outside runs.
Win 3^rd down. You cannot allow the offense to have a consistent offensive attack. Playing solid defense on 3^rd down will limit the time of possession of the opposing offense. If offenses cannot posses the ball they cannot score. Have an in depth scouting report on your opponent’s 3^rd down play calling tendencies. During the practice week we will practice stopping our opponent’s top 4-5 plays. On 3^rd down your opponent will call a play that they are comfortable with. Scout your opponent so that you can prepare your defense during the practice week.
Do not give up the big play. Regardless of what youth football defense you run it is important that your defense does not give up the big play. Have the defensive philosophy to bend but do not break. This means tackle well, swarm to the ball carrier, and do not let anyone get behind your pass coverage. Playing whistle to whistle is vital! Do not assume your fellow defenders are going to tackle the ball carrier, again “swarm” to the ball. Make the offense earn it, give them nothing easy.

Playing strong defense will always give your team a chance to win. EAT offenses up.

Good Luck!

Posted in Coaching Defense, Defense 3-5-3, Defense 44, Defense 52, Defense 53, Defense 62, Defensive Line, General Coaching Tips, Linebackers, Pass Coverage - Tagged coaching defense, stopping the run in youth football, winning defense, winning youth football defense, youth football defense

KEY Coaching Points for Playing Man to Man Coverage

Jan11
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Coach Jeff

Man to man coverage is used by 90 percent of youth football teams. Some youth coaches overlook the finer coaching points when they are teaching their defenders to play man to man. And as you know, it’s the details that are most important.

Here are a few techniques and coaching points that are sometimes overlooked:

Players and coaches must have an understanding of down and distance. If it is 3^rd and long, don’t play zero coverage (meaning no safeties). Have your cornerbacks and coverage players give a little cushion on the receiver. Play with at least one deep safety. Yell to the kids from the sideline- “down and distance!”. Understanding down and distances is very important. Have a prevent defense as well.

Play with inside leverage. Time after time I see defenders play their receivers head up. Cornerbacks should always play with inside leverage in youth football. It is a lot harder to complete a pass outside. It is very difficult for a youth football quarterback to throw from the pocket and to the outside. Contain the QB and take away the inside when playing man to man coverage in youth football.

Understand the alignment of the wide receivers. For example, if the split end is lining up really wide it is for a reason. The split end lines up wider because he wants to take the corner out of the play. Teams tend to do that when they are facing an aggressive and good tackling corner (I do that consistently). Also, if a wide receiver is lined up wider than usually it is probably because they are running a slant or some kind of inside route. Make sure your cornerbacks understand playing with leverage- if the WR lines up wide, take away his inside! When a team cheats a receiver in the slot, it’s because the offense wants their slot receiver to get a free release or they want him to run an outside pattern. How receivers line up can really give your team some tells. All coaches will have their receivers cheat their split or alignment one way or another to create room so they can run their given pattern.

Bump and run man to man coverage. Many youth football corners do not get a good enough jam on their receiver. Although we are one of the few teams that play zone coverage we also use man to man. What we have our corners do is line up on the inside shoulder of the receiver, give a step and then jam.

Quick coaching tip, when jamming use outside arm, and watch the hips of the receiver.

Many kids will jam and if the wide receiver gets a good release they will get burnt because their first step is forward. When you give a step (take a back step)-open hips-then jam the receiver while riding his inside hip it will allow your corner to turn and run with WR. This will also take away the inside release and throw off timing at the same time.

Thanks for reading- if you’ve found this article helpful- please share or +1 this in the yellow below.

Posted in Coaching Defense, General Coaching Tips, Pass Coverage - Tagged coaching defense, man to man coverage, man to man coverage in youth football, zone coverage

The Swim Move Vs Rip Move

Jun18
2011 1 Comment Written by Coach Jeff

The swim move has been the staple of youth football for years. I learned about the swim move as a youth football player. Defense is about tackling right? You bet your bottom dollar it is! Is the offense just going to let you tackle the ball carrier? No, they will try to block you. Getting off blocks is the first key aspect of youth football defense.

Five main areas of youth football defense:

Getting off blocks (engage-rip through)
Gap control/pursuit
Tackling
Goal line defense
Avoiding giving up the “BIG Play”

The swim move is a great pass rushing move, but there is one key reason why I do not even bother teaching the swim move to my players.

Performing the swim move will make the defender stand straight up, taking away leverage. You’ve heard this saying often, “the low man always wins”, for the most part that is correct. The team that controls the line of scrimmage controls the game. If you’re defensive linemen are not holding their gaps, you’re in for a long day. Doing the swim move will make the defender come up high, allowing the blocker to get under and push the defender right out of the play. So do not even bother with this move. I do not even teach it to my secondary (safety and corner-backs).

The rip move is the most effective way to get off blocks.

After engaging the blocker, rip your inside arm up while driving (pumping legs) through the blocker, this will knock back the blocker. This will also keep the defender’s low leverage while having the rip arm force through the blocker. The defender will hold his ground. Do not have your defensive linemen stand straight up because your defender will get pushed around.

Credit: montgomeryadvertiser.com

Quick Tips:

Engage the blockers, do not try and go around them. This will leave running lanes; the blocker will just push you right out of the play.
Work on controlling gaps in practice
Practice squeezing and getting into pursuit lanes
Engage and rip through!

Good Luck!

Posted in Coaching Defense, Defensive Line, General Coaching Tips, Linebackers, Youth Football Drills - Tagged rip move, swim move, Youth football defenses, youth football defensive line

Defensive Gap and Technique Alignment

May17
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Coach Jeff

Defensive gaps (A-D) are the spaces between the offensive linemen (blue circles).

Defensive alignment techniques are identified by the inside, over or outside shades of the defensive linemen on the offensive linemen. Example: If you have a defensive linemen lined up on the inside shade of the offensive tackle –the linemen is in a 4i technique. Gap Control is critical for all youth football defenses.

Posted in Coaching Defense, Defensive Line, General Coaching Tips, Linebackers - Tagged best youth football defenses, youth football, Youth football defenses

Youth Football- Tips For Proper Form Tackling

Aug29
2010 1 Comment Written by Coach Jeff

Youth Football-Form Tackling Progression

The basic fundamentals of tackling are crucial for safe and successful defensive play throughout the game. The most important aspect of defensive football is your team’s ability to tackle. Any successful team tackles well.

Good stance–hitting position
Keep head up to avoid injury and see what you are hitting
Drive through ball carrier’s midsection with your shoulder pads
Head up and across the ball carriers body-very important
Sink your hips and sky your eyes (should look like a power cling exercise)
Wrap up
Grab cloth
Wide base–drive ball carrier back

Tackling should be practiced twice a week in youth football. My team tackles Tuesday and Thursdays each week. Remember when I say tackling that doesn’t mean we kill each other each tackling drill. I do form tackling (technique half speed) and live tackling drills (live full go). Proper techniques for tackling should be practiced. Head up tackling, open field tackling and angle tackling is key.

Preach taking good angles to the ball, keeping head up, sinking hips, and running though the ball carrier. Also get that head across the ball carriers body!

Posted in Coaching Defense, Defensive Line, General Coaching Tips, Linebackers, Pass Coverage - Tagged form tackling, how to tackle in youth football, tackling youth football, youth football, youth football tackling drills