44 Gap

In our base defense we align 1 & 5 weak, 3 & 9 strong. The guys up front are to attack at their gap and squeeze the O-line down, with the DL putting their butt in the OL original position, penetrating no further than the heels of the OL original alignment. That's important, that way you have a solid front at all those gaps. Their main job is to keep the OL off the LBs. The LBs (Mike and Will in the middle, Rover strongside, Quick weakside) own the other gaps and are coached to fill and fit according to the type of play: ISO to Mike, Mike attacks with his inside arm and sheds, Will fills from his side, Rover fills from his side; Power, Rover takes on FB inside arm, Mike fills over the top, Will gets there over the top (unless he's quick enough to read a BS G pull and get a run through, which is rare). For Sweep each LB is taught to read step with his INSIDE foot - this is critical, if you step with the inside foot it's already in position to get him off to the outside. Doing this allows Rover or Quick to get on their horse quickly to pin the back to their inside shoulder, Safety is running the alley, Mike/Will is on his horse to make the tackle if the RB cuts inside the Rover/Quick. Step with the outside foot and it's just enough to let that back capture the corner, they must read step with the inside foot every time (unless they are blitzing, in which case they just get after it and attack their blitz point at the snap).

If they go 2 tight and in some other situations, you can stack the 4-4 and wreak havoc. Slant the DL one way, blitz the other gap and all kinds of interesting things can happen. One of the best is to walk up the Will to the Mike's A gap, on the snap Mike hits the other A gap hard and either gets a run through or the DT slanting to the B gets through - it's a great blitz.

Also coach up the collapse and chase concepts - on outside flow away the outside LB (Quick if the play is flowing strong, Rover if the flow is going weak) must shuffle to the opposite side A gap before taking a hard pursuit angle to protect against the cutback (collapse). The BS DE chases through the backfield, looking for any opposite colored helmet heading his way. If he sees one, he starts yelling "Reverse, Reverse!", gets enough depth to pin the reverse man to his inside shoulder and turns him inside.

Learned this one from a great coach in the Richmond area who has always had great defenses. It's simple and very effective if the kids understand their base responsibilities and initial steps.