Defensive Philosophy
We will be committed to stopping the run. We will prevent the offense from having a consistent offensive attack. We will force negative yardage plays by staying disciplined to our gap assignments. We will attack the offense on ball movement. We will play defense with extreme intensity, discipline and aggression.
The trademark of a great youth football defense is having relentless pursuit to the football. We will not allow ourselves to stay blocked, using our superior rips and grab and dip techniques (which we will practice every day) to locate and attack the ball carrier. We will find the ball and swarm to the ball carrier with relentless physicality and enthusiasm. We will attack the offense in multiple ways. Our D-Line stunts and blitzes will be executed with extreme power and intensity. We will take great pride in being sure tacklers; there will be no better tackling team than us game in and game out. Our defense will be better conditioned than our opponent (Being in proper condition is essential for preventing injuries. Football has contact every play-must maintain strong bodies). We will play with relentless attack from the first whistle to the last whistle. We will play a full 4 quarters with relentless attack. We will take pride in winning the fourth quarter; it’s not how you start, its how you finish. We will finish the game strong, therefore accomplishing a victory.
Youth Football is a contact sport. We will have 11 players on the field that love to seek out contact. We will pride ourselves on creating turnovers- fumbles and interceptions. Creating turnovers is KEY to the positive outcome of a game; a team that creates a lot of turnovers will be a team that wins many games. We will swarm to the ball, the whole defense will get to the ball securing the tackle and dislodging the ball from the ball carrier. We will not give up the “BIG PLAY”, because of our relentless swarm to the ball, our discipline to holding our gap assignments, our strong tackling ability and our secondary’s discipline to reading their keys, zone drops and containment of the outside.
We will play great defense inside our 20 yard-line (red zone) and in our goal-line defense. The closer the offense is to the end zone the less field the offense has to work with; we must locate the ball and Tackle! Tackle! Tackle! We will have pride and attitude about being successful in our red zone and goal line defenses.
We MUST play together as a team. We will have care for each other and put THE TEAM FIRST, we are all brothers on the field. We will play unselfish football and hold each other accountable for doing their job. We must be able to handle sudden changes-staying together and keeping each other up if something doesn’t go our way. We will move on and prepare to get it back on the next play. Football is not an individual sport; no other sport has to have all 11 people playing on a field together and doing a job in order to be successful.
Youth coaches need to teach the proper techniques for tackling, block shedding, and football awareness to ensure solid defensive play throughout the game. Using proper techniques are also essential to the prevention injuries. Getting off blocks, tackling and creating turnovers are the keys to a successful defense.
