Defensive Strategy and Drills – Part II

By Benjamin Martin, Defensive Coordinator, Linebackers Coach

Colorado Mesa University

Because we ran the same coverages out of the 3-4 look as we did out of our 4-3 look, I started a new drill in the middle of the season with the linebackers that proved very beneficial to them in their understanding of the defense and their individual responsibility for each call.

To begin the drill, I would take all four linebackers and line them up in front of me (as the QB). I would give them the formation set (they would not see it physically but would have to picture it mentally, and then I could switch formations by just telling them the new set), then I would call out the full defensive call (front, rush/blitz, coverage). I would then give them about two to three seconds to communicate and then I would simulate the snap of the ball. Immediately at the snap they would have to run the call. I would then right away ask all non-rushers to tell me where they were dropping (“2-1, or 3, or Back, manned on Back”). If they were all correct we would line up right away and move on. If they were wrong, then I knew we needed to talk through that call until they understood it. We’d then quickly rerun it and work that call again later to see if they really understood it.

In a five-minute period of this drill with the first two units I would be able to run eight to ten plays rather quickly with each group. This made our 7-on-7 periods and Inside periods more productive, because instead of having to correct on the field during these periods I had already talked over the majority of the calls each day with them.

Examples of the drill with two different rushes and the same zone coverage are below.

Call: Mike Palms

Call: Rush Palms

The purpose of this drill was to make sure that the linebackers were squared away on their pass drops and run fits, but I also found two additional side benefits to the drill as well when we ran it each day. Though I would pay the most attention to the droppers, I could then see the new and old blitz patterns run correctly, and I could also tell if they had to adjust their alignment to the formation pre-snap to get to their drop. We want to stress alignment and assignment pre-snap. Linebackers do not have time to think about their assignment after the snap. They have to already know what their assignment is and be able to focus on the execution of their assignment after the snap.

As I stated earlier in the article, our primary defense was the 4-3, so in the majority of practice each week that is where we received the most reps. Because we ran many of the same coverages out of the 4-3 and 3-4, the defensive backs did not need as much time adjusting to the 3-4 when we made the change. The defensive line had to be reminded of the blitz patterns we would be running each week, so as long as they heard the strength call pre-snap from the linebackers, the majority had very little difficulty week to week picking up any changes. The changes most affected the linebackers because of the run fits and drops changing based on who the extra rusher was. Practicing this five to ten minutes each day reminded all of them of their assignments, any changes, and also helped them develop a better understanding of the total defensive package.

The beautiful part of this drill was that after two or three weeks of running the drill and players getting the understanding and hang of it, we could very quickly put in something new and it could be picked up very quickly. This would mean that we could get many more reps in a shorter period of time as the season progressed. By the time we made playoffs we had shaved off about ten to fifteen minutes of individual session time in practice each day, so this drill proved invaluable with the shortened practices. We still got in the reps I wanted and the linebackers needed to get in to be prepared to play Saturday.

Hopefully this article and drill have helped you in some way to incorporate something into your defense or your defensive sessions of practice. Good luck coaches and feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions or comments We are excited about our 2017 team and if you would like to visit or just talk football, please let us know!

Benjamin Martin

Colorado Mesa University Football

Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers bermartin@coloradomesa.edu