Different Fronts

Evan James  



Although I have very little experience coaching on the defensive side of the ball, I feel there are a few parallels between choosing an offensive system and defensive system. In choosing my defensive system, I will look at the players and structure the defense system around their talents, skills, and abilities. I will also keep in mind the advantage of running a defense school's in the conference and area are not exposed to regularly. Based on the type of players we frequently get at Wheaton North, a 3-3-5 is best suited. We rarely get “big body” players, but oftentimes have more defensive back players. This goes back to choosing a defense based on the talents, skills, and ability level of your players. A parallel expectation I have learned from coaching offense that I will strive to infuse on the defensive side is to instill in my players I am not expecting them to play a perfect game, but I am expecting them to give perfect effort for the entirety of the game. I will also instill the expectation of believing in oneself, teammates and coaches. Whatever the outcome, we will face it together. The team will hit our opponent and strive to be the most physical team on the field every week. Another expectation I will take from the offensive side of the ball is to play with enthusiasm and proper fundamentals will get us through the tough times!



Combining the 4.2.5 With the 3.3.5 Defense outlines several defensive philosophical components. Coaches and players alike (across all levels of the football program – Freshmen, Sophomore, Junior-Varsity, and Varsity) must believe in it and stick to it throughout the season, especially in adverse times. I have learned the impact a shared philosophy, offensive or defensive, across all a program’s levels of football can have as players’ transition from one year to the next. The common language between position coaches, coordinators, and the head coach improve the maturation, communication, and football IQ of the players. As stated in the manual, my defense will defend the formation, defend the play, and defend the opposition’s impact players. Specific defensive principles the coaches will emphasize each day include communication by all 11 players as well as substitutes on the sideline, creating turnovers, limiting “big plays” (20+ yard plays), swarming to the football, pursuit and gang tackling, and each player doing their 1-11th by executing. One of my major takeaways from the Combining the 4.2.5 With the 3.3.5 Defense manual involved the defensive priorities. A few of them overlapped with priorities I listed earlier, but I gained a stronger understanding of discipline, reading keys, and running to the football. As an offensive coach I have recognized the defensive players doing these things, but the manual gave insight into the importance and overall impact of repeating these priorities every day in practice!



Team pursuit puts an emphasis on all eleven defensive players swarming to the football. The defense will create takeaways all over the field with the desire of getting to the football. The Varsity defensive coordinator I coach with utilizes a pursuit drill called “Iowa Pursuit. The drill was adopted from the Iowa Hawkeyes. The drill begins with a coach pitching the ball to an offensive skill player who chooses which direction to run. The ball carrier will run around a cone (typically around the top of the numbers) and up the sidelines. When the ball is pitched, all eleven defensive players will do an up-down before sprinting to a designated sideline location before the ball carrier passes them. The defensive players will “tap-off” when the offensive player passes by, avoiding slowing the momentum of the ball carrier. The defensive players’ landmark is based on their position on the field. The play-side has the shortest distance whereas the backside has cutback responsibility. A new group of defensive players will be ready at a moment’s notice to substitute in. The drill is intended to be high intensity and up-tempo. A few variations our defensive coordinator will throw in, involves the ball carrier changing course and going back to the other side of the field. He will also run a reverse as well to ensure the back-side is staying at home. Another variation is having one of the last player's in pursuit wrap-up the ball carrier and having nearby defenders strip the ball and begin a return going the other direction. Being new to the defensive side of the ball, I researched a few other pursuit drills off of Footballtoolbox.net. The first one is a six cone pursuit and can be found HERE. The second one is a compilation of five different pursuit drills and can be found HERE. I am interested in finding a drill that involves middle of the field pursuit (such as an up the middle running play or quarterback scramble). A lot of what I have noticed from experience and researched is primarily sideline geared.