Defensive Philosophy and Pursuit Drill

Defensive Philosophy and Pursuit Drill

 Joel Sienicki
The defensive philosophy that I am most comfortable with is one of multiple fronts and coverages with some core philosophical ideals that hold true throughout the implementation of the defense.

To start at the front a base defense that is able to be base in both even and odd alignments is key. Allowing the front to be adjusted with the same 11 players in the game and move from a 50 front to a 40 front is difficult due to personnel restrictions, but given the proper scenarios can be extremely beneficial to the team and confusing to the offense.

Our defense moves quickly from an odd front with a true nose man to an even front with defensive tackles without changing personnel. This gives the advantage of being able to confuse offenses and make them prepare for multiple fronts all the time. Against a man blocking scheme it is advantageous to be versatile in front and keep the offensive lineman guessing on assignment. Against a zone blocking scheme this philosphy allows us to stem from defensive front to defensive front and confuse zone and option based attacks. Along with these varied fronts are varied backfields.

The back 7 or 8, depending on the front called, will be able to adjust and align in different places without too much change in assignment or drastic alterations of scheme. The base set will provide two true inside linebackers that in the 50 fronts and the 40 fronts will play as such whether there is a defensive lineman directly protecting them or not. The outside linebackers must be versatile. There is a rush end that will be a stand up defensive end/outside linebacker in teh 50 fronts and will align as a 40 defensive end in 40 schemes. The other outside linebacker is a drop end that will be aligned off of the line of scrimmage and will play a true 40 defensive outside linebacker technique almost exclusively. This makes a true strong and weak side of the defense if we have personnel that is unable to do their jobs, but our jobs as coaches is to make the opponent think we are weak in an area and to use technique and scheme to defeat their attack.

There are two safeties that will play somewhat interchangibly as do the outside linebackers. The safeties will consist of a monster or strong safety that will play both in the box and out to create 7 or 8 man boxes (the drop or rush end will leave the box to create a 6 man box). The free safety will be a true free safety depending on coverage and will play the middle of the field or a man. The monster or strong safety will have similar responsibilities. The corners will play various coverages and will be utilized as box players in goal line and short yardage situations.

As far as coverages go, we are multiple. Again, it is nice to have multiple coverages that can be mixed with multiple fronts to be able to confuse and frustrate an opponent. This calls for a lot of practice time and good coaching, but that is the name of the game.

Finally, our pursuit drill is two fold with two different and distinct functions. The first pursuit drill places multiple offensive players all around the field at 9 distinct positions that are predetermined by the coaching staff when scouting where the opponent will attack our defense. These offensive players will be aligned in the defensive back field and in the offensive back field to simulate both run and pass plays that the opponent will utilize. A ball will be thrown to a player in the back field of the defense or one of the players in the back field of the offense will take off and run and all players on the defense must pursue to the player with the ball. The player with the ball will be instructed to avoid defenders and make realistic moves toward the goal line that will adjust his path realisitically to game scenarios. The defensive players jobs are to swarm to the football with good pursuit angles and run in front of the ball carrier with good tackling form throwing their arms up to simulate a tackle. All defensive players must run by the ball carrier and perform a tackle no matter their proximity to the ball. This teaches the players to always run to the ball no matter what. The drill is over when the ball carrier crosses the goal line or all defenders have passed in front of the ball carrier.

The second version of the pursuit drill allows us to line up our defense and run through a defensive call and assignment and then sprint through a cone on the snap. A cone will be set up at the sideline on either side of the field, one in the middle of the field and one on either hash at 60 yards away from the line of scrimmage. A coach will be posted at each cone and will be there to indicate which cone the players will run through. The defensive play caller will give the call and the players will line up, execute their blitz, stunt, or assignment and then sprint through the cone of the coach with his hands raised. This allows the players to work on defensive assignments and will condition them physically while teaching pursuit angles and lanes.