The Zen of Blitzing: Man Pressures in the 3-5 Defense

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The 3-5-3 defense is best known for the aggressive play calling style that most coaches who utilize this front prefer. While there are many who will argue that the stereotypical 3-5 defense is nothing more than a myth, I prefer to do the opposite.

In fact , let’s throw gas on the fire. The only reason to run the 3-5 is if you are fast and undersized. And you love…LOVE…to blitz.A little too drastic the other way now? Probably. But let’s take a look at some big time, 6-man blitzes for the over-aggressive psychopaths whom make this great defense what it is today.Middle Blitz

As with all of our 6 man pressures we will play Cover 0 behind it, a straight man coverage with no help for anyone. All 5 players in man coverage will play inside leverage if their man is removed from the line of scrimmage.

Zoo is simply going to send our 3 defensive linemen and our 3 inside linebackers blitzing to the 6 inside gaps up front (A, B, C gaps on both sides). You can use any normal line stunt and the Zoo call for a play that is highly aggressive and cheap to install.You could also use a Zoo X Blitz coupled with the Jacks line stunt. This tells the two backers blitzing A and B together to cross, exchanging gaps and adding even more pressure. [Read more...]

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How to Create a Strength Program

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This is a guest post from Jim Kielbaso MS, CSCS. Jim has been a collegiate strength coach, featured speaker at clinics, author of four book and produced four training DVDs. You can find more of his work at http://ultimatestrengthandconditioning.com.

Strength training program design can get very complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. The bottom line is that you need to develop a well-rounded, comprehensive program that encourages hard work and progressive overload of the musculature. If those components are in place, you are well on your way to helping your athletes reap the benefits of a strength training program.ComprehensiveA strength training program should address every major muscle group in the body: chest, upper back, shoulders, biceps, triceps, neck (for collision sports), abdominals, lower back, hips & glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings and calves. Certain sports will focus more on a particular body part or require specialized work on smaller muscle groups (i.e. baseball pitchers will train the rotator cuff extensively), but all major muscle groups should be addressed. In general, an equal amount of work should be done on each side of a joint.Deficiencies can be overcome through strength training, but it generally takes specialized assessment to determine which muscles are deficient. [Read more...]

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The Secret to Choosing the Right Defense for your Football Team

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If you have a particular defense that you are set on, this video will not be much good for you. This is for the rest of us. This is for the guys who love defensive football, understand that everything out there works as long as it is sound, but are not 100% committed to one particular defensive scheme.

Back me into a corner and I will tell you, I am a 4-3 Guy. But that does not mean it is the only defense I would run. Take a look at this video on the secrets to choosing the perfect defense for your team. For even more quality assurance, read about our system for choosing a new defense. Is now the time for a change?

Transcript of Choosing the Right Defense

This is Joe Daniel with FootballDefense.com. We’re going to take a look at choosing the right defense for your team to help them exist. When we’re looking at choosing a defense there are few things that you want to take a look at very closely. Really simple every defense works. I think one of the biggest mistakes that I know that I made early on as a coach and still make sometimes is sticking that there is one defense out there. One skim is going to be the fix will be care of whether it is a right way to play defense of football and there’s only one right way. The truth is there are tons of defenses are out there and they all work. People want championship in 3-4, 4-2-5, 4-4, 4-3 and 3-5-3…in everything else out there. It doesn’t matter what it is people of won with it. And as long as the defense fits certain few key characteristics it is a defense that you can win with. There we should look at to real simple question; we need the question that we talk about in our eBook, free eBook that you can get at FootballDefense.com. You can download our defense of Insulation manual which goes through entire process of choosing a new defense.

To the keys that we look that there is number 1. Is it sound? So which is the defensive scheme we wanted to know if it sound the number two can we teach it. So those who two to be the biggest thing that we need to know, we got to chose the defense. The first question of “Is it sound?” has two components to it. The first one is a sound defense, when we talk about sound defense we need one that can really truly fit against no matter what your opponent’s runs out there that will work against it. Number one is “Do we have all the gaps covered?” We got the A gaps and the B gaps. The A gaps will concern the guards. We got the A gaps between the guards and tackles. We got C gap between the tackles and the tight Ends and then we got the outside or outside contain. Can we fit all those gaps? Can we secure all those gaps? If we can then we got a sound defense. An anatomy is in the first question, the first step to having a sound defense is “Do we have all the gaps covered?” In an 8 – man front like a 4-4, 4-2-5 or 3-5-3 covering all the gaps is fairly easy because you got 8 – man and you normally got A gaps. It gets a little bit tougher when you go to a 7 – man defense like a 3-4 or 4-3 because you got 7 guys in a defensive front to cover A gaps. So, that’s we start to have to get some 2 gaps going on and getting your safeties involve in the run range. With that all goes whatever defense you choose as long as it as a system for covering all the gaps. It could become a sound defense. The second question is “Does coverage match the front?” and I think that sometimes coaches don’t consider if there’s a certain coverage that they really want to run does it fit what they want to do upfront because these are two pieces that are not separate. Somebody in your coverage usually linebackers, somebody in your coverage going to be involve heavily in stopping the run that also be a key component in your coverage. For example you’re running a cover 3 in an 8 – man front a 4-2-5 or 3-5-3 defense. Your two overhang safety or outside linebackers are going to call them on your crucial part of your coverage and then they’re in charge to the flats but there are also a crucial part in your run game that they are probably the Contain player against the run. So if our coverage in a front didn’t match then we would have a problem for example if we run a cover two with our 3-5-3 and we roll that safety, one of those two overhang players back to give us two deep safeties. We better do something with our front, does it make that you can’t do it but you better do something with your front to account for the guy is normally your outside Contain player being lined up 14 yards off the ball. So the question along with “Do we have all the gaps covered?” is our re-matching our coverage with our front. And if our coverage and our front match there’s some natural fits, cover 4 or cover 2 or natural fit with the 4-3 or 3-4, cover 3 or cover 1 or natural fits with your 3-5-3 and with your 4-2-5 another 8 – man fronts your natural fits. Wherever you’re going to run even if it’s not the natural fit coverage it has to work with your front. Those two key components have to be combined together. The next part is “Can we teach it?” maybe that is the most crucial part of your defense because again if you pick a defense, if you choose any defense from you know whether you read books or you’re going to cleanse or you’re looking at FootballDefense.com, your going anywhere, you visit any colleges, wherever you will be going in order to learn your defense or in order to install your defense all the skims in the world: the blitzes and coverage’s, the techniques not only matters if you’re out to communicate that to the guys what actually he wants to do because your ability as a coach to skim things during the summer or spring or the winter really doesn’t matter if your guys were able to execute what you want to have done during the fall. So, I think that along with “Do we have all the gaps covered?” and “Do we have a great match between our coverage and our front”. Existing the great defense cannot stop everything could be adjusted to everything so all great if you could teach it. So the next part of what you have to do if you want to choose that defense is to get together with your stuff from the side. How are you going to teach each technique and how are you going to teach players to execute these techniques. How are you going to design drills that you want to teach the fundamentals of this defense? Cover all those basis you can have the best defense. Again you can read more in our free eBook on defense of Insulation manual as you are updating your defense whether you are making a massive of changes or just making some tiny tweets in the off season.

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Defending Four Verticals with Cover 3 Coverage

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For anyone running a 3-5-3 or 4-2-5 Defense, you’ve run into the issue of an 8-Man front against 4 vertical threats. Teams are going to try to hit you on the seams if you are a Cover 3 team. Just plan for it.

Along with mixing up the coverages, you have a couple of options to still be a strong Cover 3 team against even the most aggressive passing offenses in your district. Watch the video below on defending four verticals with your Cover 3, and keep your base coverage sound!

Thinking about switching to the 4-2-5 Defense? Click here to learn more about it.

Transcript of Defending 4 Verticals out of Cover 3:

Hi! This is Joe Daniel of Football-Defense.com. Today we’re talking about Defending Four Verticals out of Cover Three. Cover three is one of that coverage’s that has obvious just like any other coverage’s serve in weak spots in the four verticals. Four vertical routes getting in to your deep coverage’s we’ve only got three deep. Is the biggest weak spot that you can have in cover three? There are other places that you could hit cover three like flats maybe a little soft out there. But obviously those verticals routes in your safe deep zone where knows be caught into big hit so we are our way to play that. The cover three is the great coverage’s the one that’s going to be your base coverage’s that simple to teach. But this is couple different techniques that you’ve really got to spend against the time on if you are going to roll a lot on cover three. Because what you’re going to see a lot of mother offenses with the thread forms verticals. First of all the easiest part as quarterbacks, quarterbacks going to be handling this outside routes gettingBear a rush. So their get back in cover three playing a deep third. They’re going to make sure the D’s they back stay over top in the third and there’s going to work with this guy. If he tries to run the sideline they’re want to get inside fit on him. So if he continues to run out here. You’ll get to the sideline run that fade route they’re want to work their way to the inside fit. Where they can stay on his inside and they can squeeze him now they’re want to squeeze him as they’re looking back to the football. Because where zone coverage’s we’re not turning ourselves to the men we’re turning ourselves back to the inside. So if he seen this guy and his working his way back or you must be on the turn with his hands squeezing that guy. Being able to see that quarterback dealing receivers with his hands and as his doing that he was really trying to squeeze him to the sideline to leaning to him. Feel his hands leaning to him squeeze down the space. Because the more he can squeeze these guys out to the sideline the less route there is for the quarterback to drop football in there. So really want to squeeze this guy out to sideline same thing on the other side with both cores. The free safety is going to look to help to the wide side of the field. As our safety as our strong safety over here steps is going to have three steps to the cover three because his to contain player he get to run. So he has to read steps he needs to go a good read out of the end man it is a good I had read. Passive real this guy that is get now his eyes immediately if you’re going to run pick up the number two receiver. If that number two receivers come out forward may have to try the collision him and knock him off his route there. You must try the collision it knock off his timing then guys try get to that scene. Our free safety is working back as he sees that work release his working his way over the top here. We’re going to pick our strong safety to be more run responsible player be more like a linebacker or in this case 4-2-5 defense. We’re to pick our strong safety to be more a linebacker here. Our weak safety on the other hand is going to be an athlete somebody who’s capable of coverage’s. So the first play we’re going to handle this is again is going to read steps turn then if he sees that guy releasing. We’re going to carry him with the weak safety so we going to work to carry him. Move collision and carry those guys about ten yards and they’re going to settle off about ten yards about the strong safety play out here. We got this release by number two on the weak side knowing the free safety’s has been train. Lean his help his not going to jump this he’s going to lean his help. Keeping line that this a wall round of route as long as his leaning and helping this way his going to have time on that long throw about the quarterback. His going to have time to get over there and make a play on it. The weak safety there is going to really get this guy base to play and men coverage’s as he goes verticals. We’re going to carry this all the way down the field in the first play that we have in plays. And that case you’re weak safety is getting a lot rocks on that stepping, reading opining out the snapping his eyes out to that number two receiver. If his going his going to get that hand inside hand on and going to start running with him. Big piece become a cover man from now on the vertical ball his got long safety help. Safety got his leaning here a long throw his got sometimes get back over coz it’s not going to be huge about help. Weak safety going to be count for the bend there and that’s something you can work a lot you can do. The next thing we can do is teach our corners to handle the four verticals with our safety and not involve with the backers so much it. Again this is going to take a bit of coaching it’s going to take a quite a bit of work once you get start working immediately. If you’re going to be a cover three team and play this one. So again we got our weak safety, strong safety or corners if 10 yards off. Free safety 12, 14 or some team play 14 to 17 it’s matter of how deep you are playing in there. We still going to warn the strong safety to step with the high hot and get out and try the collision in the sky knock him off to this time trough timing off. So he step, read it get out the collision we definitely want that collision willing out. We’re run out of corners, we get our short side of corners be aggressive and play that number one receiver to his side just like his been doing. We can let him be more aggressive there’s a short side with the middle of the field his going to play is kind of similar. As we get this vertical routes coming out here the corner is going to play his zone so we’re play a little more of his zone. About here and the corner once to fade here to the shoulder throw, the shoulder throw been the scene route. The scene route to shoulder throw long throw out to the side of corner is going to fade a little bit to the short throw here. Knowing that if he is been trained very well he break to play that ball in the air out to this side to the corner here or to the out sideline here. Or you can break that and help here same thing with the free safety the free safety got this powerful here. Short of throw he was to be able to split this suite favoring where we needs a favor force one side of the field. If we’re going to left this corner and lock one here his going to favor a little bit more to the short side. With this corner favoring more to the C, so his wearing what we need it in this case his favor here, favor here. We can also favor to the strong side just defending on what we’ve got on the time of best receiver over on that wide or best quarterbacks on that wide side. Give him a little more responsibility, there’s so much out available to you. Those are couples ways to play Four Verticals out of Cover Three. Definitely lots of changes on great way to play Cover Three are just move to new cover or one cover. Coz we’re going to lock down line man coverage’s knocks of you all the time. Especially if you don’t think you guys are capable to play man on every snap. Put something that could give the deep the offense on different look without really changing too much of your alignment here. Just give you something different to use against them. Hope that something could be useful to use to preparing your defense. Stuff by Football-Defense.com. You could pick up our free eBook of Football-Defense defense of installation manual. Download that right away and get started. Especially if you get in the all session in here and you started to look to make some changes defense for the upcoming session. Hope you could enjoy this. Thank you for listening. Have a great day!

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Aligning the 4-3 Defense against 2 Tight End Formations

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One of the biggest advantages of the 4-3 defense is its ability to adapt to any offensive attack. Whether you face a Pro-I, Spread, or Flex Bone you can adjust your base front without breaking your basic rules.

In this video, we are looking at aligning your 4-3 Defense to stop Double Tight End formations. It takes some really simple tweaking to the Over front, or checking to an Under front to get strong against 2-TE sets quickly. If all else fails, we can also hop into a goal line set.



Hi! Welcome to FootballDefense.com. Today we’re taking a look at “Defending Two Tight End” out of 4-3 defense. We’re going to look at couple of different ways so we can hold two tight Ends for more defense of front here. Anytime that we see two tight Ends specially the two back set we’re expecting the run here. This is definitely a running situation force that we’re going to played as. This is duck formation two tight Ends we got the “I” back here. We got the single receiver split out to the right force. First of all, inside we’re going to still keep our 7 man front. We’re going to be able to play with here, two safety uptight they get a love that quarter coverage in the 4-3 because their ability did 9 guys in the box against their quickly. On the weak side from a single no receiver to tight we’re going to tight this corner back up. We could invert this two if you got a guy who’s really a good run player in here and in this corner is not a great run player you can send him back. We’re going to play some version of a cover 2 with these guys will be a little bit more aggressive in the flats and he will have a deeper half here. This is going to give us actually more of the corner, corner half look against this. Cover over on the strong side same as in the receiver side. We got our corner he’s going to play more our recheck what look like. He’s going to be playing off making sure that he stays overtop of number 1. The safety is in the aggressive run play in here going to be really has to worry about this scores getting back. He set the tight End would release on the vertical route. If tight End release on a vertical route he would lock on him to cover all over the field but as long that tight End does anything else if he goes out, if he comes down, he runs the track whatever that case maybe. The safety can be aggressive on the run. He simple needs to help out on single receiver if he gets a flat route it is going to be some real problem. He’s going to jump to the hip of number 1 receiver help out there. Inside we’re going to have our base 4-3 over front starting out. Our 4-3 over were going to have an outside shade here with the tackle. We’re going to have 3 techniques; we got a 9 we got 3 send backers on the 55 yards off the ball outside shade of the tackle in this side. Our Mike is going to be shade over in a 10 maybe losing over a little bit strong 10 play that A gap maybe just a little bit farther over. Our Will backer is going to be here in 50 again, just like he normally is. He’s going to be the 50 he’s a little more aggressive on that B gap. We’re going to be losing this tackle up in a normal over front. He plays on one on the center we’re going to be losing him up a little bit just to extend the edge into the two “I”. We’re going to do the same thing with our defense of End losing him up into a seven. What does going to do is just making hard down block these guys also making really hard down block defense with these guys when they bring their 2nd tight End there over. Nothing really changes over here. We got to make some adjustments over here because now we have to look for more issue without bringing anybody extra here out in this corner probably not the greatest inside linebacker. Having that corner they may have a slot of number to this weak side as supposed what normally have. The safety is still being aggressive; the corners could be the box responsible player here. He is here setting the aggressive here and again the free safety here only has the threat of these guys if he goes vertical corner end of the out route, anything in the flat out of them so if he goes vertical free safety going to take him. If you were going to run the drag the free safety will be on that as well. Next thing that we can do against this is to go into our under front, our under front going to tight this up free good against this look. We’re tight down now our tackle into the 3 technique. A strong side tackle is going to tight down in the 1. Our End will move down a little far and will walk the Sam backer up. Our weak tackle this going to shade over into a 3 and our Ends going to move out. He’s going to play the seven here just again to give some little help on the down block. The backers in the under front are going to move in the 30’s. The Sam was down into a 9. The Mike and the Will are in the 30 they’re handling those open gasp to their side. This closes down to the number broken gasp that we have. Nothing has the changed in coverage at all. Everything in coverage is going to be the exact, the same. That’s going to help us tighten down against this front if we know that they’re going to run the ball, put this in a better position. Next thing that we can do, if this really just a run out of this situation we know they’re running the football we can go our goal line set. Sometimes it would be seen especially in High School, in youth football and you’ll be see a lot more 2 tight with just running the football maybe it is a double wing; maybe it is a power I whatever the case maybe we’re going to goal line set here. And our goal line set, we want to bring the Ends down tighter inside we may reduce a personal substitutions because our Ends are generally speed guys who are rushing hard, bending, get all over the place so we made your personal substitutions when we bring them in we pitch the tackle in tight so they can handle the A gap. Again pitch in the End over here with a balance front then our goal line, the corners going to walk out to play press men inside shade of this number 1 receiver take with the inside, take with that quick slant of course we throw a fade ball over top of the those we should allow percent this throw out there. Defense of End inside shade were walk both. Outside backers up off the Edge. They’re going to be the Contain players now. So, our outside backers are containing the play. Mike backers in the middle of his gap solve. A lot of times Mike wants to get it really tight in the line of scrimmage where his gap solves nothing should hit A and B gap. At least he’s not quickly downhill unless these guys get crash, in which in case get you problems any way. So, this guy can play off a little bit towards he can see it he can fade it up. They do try to stick it up in the see B gap so he can help on run to the C gap or 1. Our safeties are going to handle. Free safety and strong safety, they are all in the C gap. They do have men coverage take this cover here. He does have men coverage to that tight end. So his looking if that tight End is engage here he’s going to work on that C gap he’s keeping out to run for those guys to release this gap. Corner out here, in this situation their receiver on the move the corner can handle this tight End which that can communicate the men coverage. The corners going to handle the number 1 receiver, free safety in this case were going to handle the 2 it maybe a back out to back field to gets that pass situation. Role simple goal on the front, we really want to handle these guys in on the center who want to be in the inside shade of this tackles that made difficult to down blocker guys. We got our Contain players out here. A little different on the other front, we’re not bending so to differ skilled work with them. We still very sound this go on front as a solid front, one that you can run and adjust anything that you see but against 2 tight such a great front of run. So, there’s a 3 information that you can defend to tight Ends, we’re going to try the run the ball ride action, try to place smash football and got a few options for it out of your 4-3 defense. Hope that’s helpful to you, stop by at FootballDefense.com. You can always get our Defensive Installation Manual. Sign up for that on web page and that will be download immediately a really nice eBook as you looking on the off season, looking to change your defense, optic your defense and coverage and blitzes and whatever you made to do. You can also get the 4-3 over insulation manual they are line download that immediately as well. Thanks for listening, stop by at FootballDefense.com and have a great day!  [Read more...]

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