Coverages behind blitzes

Here's one suggestion. Have a safe call and a heat call that you will use to any balanced 1-back set (it doesn't matter what the formation is, as long as it is balanced). For example, your safe call to any balanced 1-back set could be jumping into cover 2 and running a line stunt. On the the other hand, your heat call vs the same formation might send both LB's and play man-free behind it. The key to the whole thing is that your kids must be able to recognize a balanced 1-back formation. By havng two calls, you can keep the offensive guys in the pressbox guessing which call you're going to use. I have found that using formation checks at the high school level is the best way to go; most high school teams are somewhat formation-oriented. Calling defenses by down/distance is a crapshoot because offenses will do anything on any down. If you analyze the opponent's offense, you will see what his favorite plays are out of each formtaion and be able to make a call that puts the defense in a good postion. In other words, formation checks will always put you in the best call for any given formation.