I would like to share some defensive fundamental categories that we have established and practiced throughout spring and that carry us all through the summer. The beauty of these fundamentals is that they can be practiced with little to no equipment (except for perhaps a few footballs or makeshift footballs if where your coach doesn’t allow real football under any circumstances during the summer) and little to no contact by the players when coaches often cannot be present during off-season workouts.
DEFENSIVE FUNDAMENTAL CATEGORIES
PURSUIT – SWARMING TO THE FOOTBALL
-Any pursuit drill that you already have can be practiced without the coaches but the best one (that also incorporates takeaways) is to have the full unit deploy into the base defensive call against a “ghost formation” on air. Then have one of the other players mimic the QB by either throwing a pick or tossing a fumble onto the ground. Proper details of capturing the football must be employed for either scenario (high point/double hand scoop of the back half of the football) and the entire defense must account for blocking the nearest player to the ball, blocking the QB, and “convoying” the defender with the football through the “alley” (halfway between the top of the numbers and the hash). Then the ball is taken all the way through the end zone where the defensive captain will get a breakdown. If every level of depth for the defensive Unit does this three times per day during the summer, both PURSUIT and TAKEAWAYS will improve.
BLOCK DESTRUCTION
-All you need is one teammate. Partner up and work the details of three types of BLOCK DESTRUCTION that all start with the same beginning: two hands on in a fit position with fistfuls of cloth, thumbs up/elbows in, and eyes on the throat of your opponent. Sequentially work through destroying the block by accelerating the feet, then separating and straining the player out. To escape, use one of three methods: double shrug and move opposite the offender, push/pull with arm over, and/or push/pull and rip. With all three variations the focus for this phase of the year is to emphasize the following – straining longer than you think you have to and “stacking” the block or getting “vertical” or “getting front to back”. Use whichever works best for your players.
TACKLING
-With a “whiz” tempo (no contact and always finishing off the back hip of the ball carrier), work on the “angle” tackle and the “open field” tackle. The best place that can be found to drill this is the on the DL pass rush hoops if you have them painted on the field or if you have moveable hoops that you can place down. Both the ball carrier and the tackler start with their heels aligned on the inside edge of the hoop. The angle tackle is worked by knowing which way the ball carrier is going and then “matching his angle” downhill and finishing off the back hip by “tagging off'” and “club-wrapping” on air with a “high knee run”. The open-field tackle is drilled by letting the ball carrier go anyway he wants within the hoop and forcing the tackler to regain leverage and turn the situation back into an angle tackle. The same details are then applied.
BALL DISRUPTION
-Getting a “strip sack” on a QB is a game0-changing play. Have one player mimic a QB in the prone throwing position with the ball cocked back and the off arm out. From about two yards away, have every player come through and focus on (with limited violence and impact) two things – securing the QB completely around the waist with the off-arm and stripping the football with a chopping motion at the bottom of the bicep where it attaches to the elbow joint. This is not a high speed or big hit drill and requires no footballs – just a focus on the details of the placement of each arm.
TAKEAWAYS
-The most important thing in being a great takeaway team is to “catch the ones they throw to you” and “pick-up the ones they put on the ground”. As defensive units, if we simply ensure that this happens every time throughout the course of a season, then that is usually good for about 15 takeaways. So, you are already halfway there towards “3 a game” in a 10-game season. That being said, defensive players need to work at “scooping and scoring”, “scooping and fetaling”, and catching as many footballs as possible. There are several details with all of these but the simplest one that is most often overlooked is to ALWAYS USE TWO HANDS in whatever the scenario may be in getting the football back from the offense.
Hopefully, these points will help you give your players some simple tools to drill the base fundamental skills without you – the coach – around.