Flexbone Passing Tidbits

Looks like it's time to throw the ball

Just thought I'd switch over the offensive side here for a moment and drop off some passing tidbits in the flexbone offense.  I know, the flex is mainly a run oriented offense and most coaches want to hear about veer or midline.  However, the flexbone offense can be a very dangerous passing offense as well, when used correctly.  I'm going to build on some concepts I discovered while running this offense, and hopefully you can use these as well.


I constantly here the statement by defensive coaches "The idea that the flexbone can attack with four vertical routes is absurd!".  Well, I'm here to tell you that the four vertical combination is alive and well in the flexbone offense.  Why most coaches who run the flexbone, will tell you that the idea that four verticals is this "magic pill" is somewhat skewed, the threat is always there for this play to be run.  Another one I get is that the defense can be ready for four verticals because the offense can't run motion AND run four verticals.  What I'm going to show you in this post, is how to make four verticals a more deadly weapon, and how you CAN run four verticals with motion, and even run the play off of playaction!

Run and Shoot Concepts
Just because you run for verticals does not mean you have to run the routes straight down the field.  There are many good variations on four verticals you can run that it can be mind boggling.  The Run and Shoot Streak Package is the best way to work on a defense with four verticals.  Heck, you could base your entire passing game off this one concept in the flexbone and not have to burn too much time during the week working on the passing game.  This is jut one way to get more mileage out of your four verticals package in the flexbone offense.

Adding Four Verticals to the Playaction Passing Game
How I stumbled across this concept, was as usual, by accident.  I had a play that I stole from when I worked under a split back veer (SBV) coach, that is shown below.

The A back was usually wide open and a key coaching point was to turn this into a wheel route if the QB didn't throw the ball immediately.  In the flexbone the play looks like this:

Same concept, and I had decent success with it, but the play did not seem to time up as well from the flex as it did from split backs.  I think this was mainly due in part to the motion by the slots not always being as consistent as the alignment of the halfback in the split back system.  Anyhow, one day, I called triple pass with all vertical routes (shown below) and a rookie slot back goes in twirl motion and runs the vertical route away from his normal assignment (blocking outside the B back's block).  Well, needless to say the slot was WIDE OPEN, even though he didn't get the ball thrown to him.  I got in the huddle and told the offense to run the very same play, but this time I told the QB where to throw the ball.  BAM!  It goes for a TD, nobody even touched the backside slot.  It was an easy pitch-and-catch for a touchdown, and the play we simply called "14 Veer Pass Streaks" was born!

All the receivers ran their normal routes, but the backside slot would go in twirl motion (three steps) and on the snap would wheel around and run his vertical route as well.  Now I know what you are thinking "four verticals is supposed to have all four routes on the same level if it is to stress the defense!".  Well, when you add in playaction, this is not the case.  This is an excellent play vs. defenses that like to rotate their coverage and against overaggressive LB's on the backside of plays.  For an interactive look at the play go here, otherwise the play is shown below against a 4-3 defense.

Before



After

 As you can see, the playaction holds the LB's and allows the backside slot to "slip" out undetected by the defense.  The other reason this technique works so well, is that the corner, seeing the backside vertical by the number one receiver, and having saw the slot go in motion, is now playing off of his divider and cannot play the inside throw.  The rotated middle third safety is also out of position and in a quandary.  If he rotates back he runs the risk of leaving the front side vertical open, however if he doesn't rotate back or doesn't see the backside vertical, then the back side slot is wide open. 

The benefits of this play are two-fold.  First, it can be a serious home run for the offense, especially if you don't overrun it during the course of a season.  Secondly, this play HAS to hold either the backside safety, which will keep the offense from jumping your motion, or it will hold the backside LB, opening up the triple option once again (which is EXACTLY what every play in the flexbone offense is designed to do).  This is a great play, that is "cheap" to add when it comes to time to install and develop this play.  Who knew when one backup slot did the wrong thing, it would lead into a very dangerous weapon for the flexbone offense?!

Playaction Four Verticals and the Trips Formation
Probably one of the most under used concepts in the four vertical scheme is to throw playaction from the Trips formation.  If we remember the Veer "Q" play, this is a deadly double option out of the Trips formation that requires very little time to adapt to your offense.  Playaction off of this look is no different, in that it is a very simple addition to the offense, that requires little to no new teaching time to install.

Playaction Screens
I have always been a big fan of the screen game.  Whether it be quick screens, running back screens, or simply a jailbreak screen, screens have always been a big part of my passing game.  Here are some that I have run off of playaction that are some pretty nasty little compliments to the flexbone running game.

Triple Pass Jailbreak
The jailbreak screen takes a bit of time to implement, but when you run it off of playaciton, you can really gut a defense's backside.  Most defenses are hell bent on getting players across the midline to stop the triple option and this is their downfall, especially those that rotate coverage.

I particularly liked to use this play when I had WR's that could move in space.  The QB sells the triple and drops off on the pass and instead of his normal one and a half steps off the mesh, he takes another one and a half steps and turns and delivers the football to the backside receiver.  The blocks by the front line do not have to be devastating, but the key coaching point here is to force the defender into an outside release (which is why this play is best run to the three and five side of the defense).  Anyhow, again, not a huge time intensive play  to add to your playaction passing game.

Screens off Rocket Toss
Rocket toss is one of the toughest plays in all of football to defend because of how quickly the play attacks the flank of the defense.  In order to stop the play, the defense must pursue, and pursue quickly.  In order to slow this pursuit down, use the rocket screens shown here.

The first screen is a screen to the B back off rocket action.  This is a flow screen that works to counteract the overreaction by the defense to the rocket.

Another good one off of the Waggle play (off Rocket action) is the throwback screen to the slot.  Here the QB will sell Rocket, then roll to set up Waggle.  Once clear of the "box" he then turns and throws back to the slot that went in motion.  Talk about having the defense's head spinning!

These are just a few ways you can "spice" up your passing game in the Flexbone offense.  The book should show more of these and go into greater detail on playaction passing in the Flexbone.  Anyhow, I'd written about defense enough, thought I would get into some of the offensive side of the football for a while.




See, I can be offensive


Take care,

Duece

Weak Safety Shuffle Technique in Solo Coverage

Uh oh...

Most who know me know I like the shuffle footwork for defensive backs (DB's).  I started using the shuffle about 2006 as a way to help my slow corners have an advantage against our competition, who was much, much faster than us.  Since then, the shuffle is all I've really used when coaching corners.  The technique really has allowed a lesser player to play the cornerback position and still be able to be effective against much better talent at wide receiver (WR).

Introduce Solo coverage, or as I was taught "Poach" coverage.  I learned this back in my early days of Quarters coverage.  I used it as my trips open check as an automatic.  The problem I always had with Solo was the weak safety (WS) and his ability to both get over the number three receiver vertical, and being able to come up and play the force player to the away side.  Sure, most times this player is into the boundary and our dear friend, the 12th player (the sideline) can help us out.  However, if you've had some of the athletes I've had to coach, over the past few years, you quickly realize you need some way of helping this kid out.  I had used both a flat-footed buzz technique (which is my standard footwork for a Quarters or Two Read safety), and backpedaling as the footwork technique.  I take to heart a lot of what the players tell me, as they are the one's who are having to execute the technique and perform.  Most of the players did not like the sit and buzz because they always felt late getting to the vertical of number three.  Secondly, they did not like to backpedal because they felt by the time they judged it was a run play, they were late forcing the football.  So what to do?

WS has an issue with leverage on both the vertical by #3 and being able to force.

A few years back, I started toying with shuffling the WS out at an angle, having him open to the number three receiver.  The kids caught on pretty quick and liked it much better than backpedaling or standing flat-footed.  The benefit is two-fold in this case.  The WS gets to open up to his pass key (number three), yet still can see the quarterback and EMOL to get his run reads.   If the number three receiver is vertical, the WS can get into better position using the shuffle because he opens in the direction of the number three receiver putting him closer to his assignment than if he would have simply backpedaled.  If the WS reads run, he can easily use the T-step, redirect and get back downhill to help force the run. 




By opening to #3 WS can easily read #3's intentions






By opening to #3 WS can still see his normal lane of ball read and redirect if necessary


You do need to tweak the alignment of the WS if you use the shuffle.  Originally I had the WS align in the away side A gap.  I felt this alignment allowed him to get to both assignments well, however the WS still was late forcing the run most of the time.  Anytime I tried moving him wider, then the number three receiver became a problem.  Once I tried shuffling, I was able to move my lesser athletic WS's to the B gap, and the more athletic one's to stacked over the away side OT. 




WS is too wide in normal alignment to account for #3 vertical




Something else, not related to WS technique, that can help with Solo coverage is having the read side LB work fast to wall number three and force this receiver to run a "bubble" when going vertical.  This gives the WS time to get a clear read and get to his assignment.  The LB has to work quickly to get to this route and at the very least help be in the throwing lane, especially vs. quick throws. 

Lastly, if you really like Solo coverage, mix in "Roll Solo" as well.  Roll is not a good coverage vs. four vertical routes, however, it is good against teams that run flood concepts with the number three receiver going vertical (instead of the standard of having number one take the top off the coverage).  Roll takes some pressure off of your WS because there is added help by the FS in this case.  Maybe that's for another article though...

Just something I tried and wanted to share with folks who may be experiencing the same issues I had when installing Solo coverage.  Solo is a very good coverage, but it does have it's weaknesses.  By utilizing a technique, I already was coaching my corners on, I was able to help out our WS's in Solo coverage.

Most of you are wrapping up spring practice, you've had your spring games and are looking ahead to the off-season.  However, some of you may still need some improvement.  Here's some great sites in my blog roll you need to check out!

Football is Life Blog Roll

Smart Football
Smart Football is a site I check daily.  The latest post on the Colts offense shows exactly why football coaches should use this site.  The attention to detail here is second to none. 

Gridnotes
Gridnotes is one of those gifts that keeps on giving.  It seems as if this site is updated daily.  Articles ranging from X's and O's to philosophy and tidbits that will make you a better coach grace the pages of this blog.  You can also find links to some of my long lost posts on there as well!  Great site chocked full of TONS of information on the great game of football.

Coach Hoover's Site
Coach Hoover, the master of creating and editing video has a great site with more links than I can possibly count.  Plenty of articles on drills as well as devotion and coaching philosophy can be found on Coach Hoover's site.  Plus...he's a Gator fan, what more could you want?!

Cripes, Get Back to Fundamentals
If you haven't found Brophy's site yet, you are missing out.  Cripes, Get Back to Fundamentals is the Mecca of a myriad of football information.  So stop lying around on a bean bag, naked, eating Cheetos, and get on the Internet to this site!  I guarantee you can burn up a couple of Saturdays doing nothing but reading old posts on here.  Good job Brophy!

If you are looking for good football knowledge, check out those sites, you won't go wrong there.  Well, I'm off for a bit, heading to enjoy my memorial day weekend.  Have fun, be safe and enjoy a cool one...





I hear Buffet playing...don't you?!


Duece

Two Gap/One Gap vs. One-Back Zone Option

Since posting the original Two Gap-One Gap (TGOG) posts, I have had numerous emails wanting more, more, more.  Where here you go!  In this post I'm going to show you how the TGOG scheme, when coupled with coverage can negate the zone read and zone read triple options being employed by many of today's spread offenses.  The TGOG was developed specifically to give lesser athletes an advantage against just such offensive schemes.  Let's get into the details shall we?

Setting the Front
There has been much argument about how to set the front when facing zone read option teams.  Personally, I like to set the three technique on the opposite side of the running back, or at the very least slant him in that direction from a two technique alignment (especially vs. those pesky OC's who flop the RB prior to the snap).  Anyhow, I also believe you need to mix things up, as good spread teams with a running QB will also run QB iso and QB power.  I think setting the three technique to the back is a good change up when expecting the iso and power type of QB runs.  Being able to mix things up keeps the offense on it's heels and they now do not know what to expect.  The TGOG scheme allows the defense to be sound, regardless of where the three technique is set.

Setting the Coverage
Assuming the ball is in the middle of the field (MOF), as with the three technique, I say mix things up.  There is no right or wrong way to do things, and in this article I'm going to look at all the possible alignments and how the defense is sound no matter where the read side of the coverage is set (assuming you use split field coverage).  Now we all know the ball is only in the MOF some 20 percent of the time, so the read side may or may not be set with your front.  I'm going to detail the scenarios to show you just how sound the TGOG scheme is, regardless of where the coverage is set.

Attack the Offense, Scenario #1- Front and Coverage set Away From the Running Back

As the drawing shows, the read side of the coverage and the front are both set away from the RB.  The DE on the strong side, being a one gap player can get up field and help play the spill by the Sam LB.  The three technique will allow himself to be reached and fall back in to play the A gap and help on cutback.  To the weak side, the one technique is a one gapper and will get up field, also preventing the cutback or "wind back" play from developing.  The weak side DE is a two gapper, so he is collapsing the OT, not allowing the OT to work up to the Mike LB and is playing the B gap cut back also preventing the "wind back".  The Mike LB, will have QB all the way.  This is very advantageous if you are in the MOF and playing Bronco coverage on the away side.  As you can see, you have all your bases covered.  Now let's look at the triple option run the same way.

The front assignments remain the same, however the secondary must make up for the motion and the resulting "extra player" that will show up on the away side of the coverage.  This is an easy check for the secondary.  The FS should check the secondary into either Roll Sky, or Roll Solo.  I'd prefer Roll Sky as the SS is already inverted and can help play under the #1 receiver on any playaction routes, as well as run with the wheel route by the RB off of playaction. 

The FS moves with the motion and is the alley/extra QB defender to the "new read side".  The WS, can screw down and is now the force player and will take pitch.  If the number two receiver blocks the WS, then the FS will overlap this block and play the pitch.  Again, you are sound as you have all three phases of the triple option accounted for (dive, QB, pitch), and you've done it simply by defeating the blocking scheme and not by assigning players to a certain phase.

Attack the Offense, Scenario #2-  Front and Coverage Set to the Running Back

Now the three technique is still on the same side as the SS, yet the RB is now to the strong side of both the front and the coverage.  Maybe you did this expecting a QB isolation run or QB power run and the offense decides to run the zone read instead...not an issue.  The strong side DE, being a two gap player, will work under the reach block by the OT and play the B gap looking to spill the play outside.  The one technique is a one gapper and is attempting to blaze a trail up field, not allowing the left guard to come off (even though I have it drawn up that way).  The one technique holds the A gap and helps on the cutback.  By alignment, the one technique is difficult to block one-on-one by the center, so you have eliminated any chance of a double and scrape by the center and left guard.  The weak side three technique is a two gapper, so he mashes the guard down in the A gap, and does not allow the guard to scoop to the next level while helping on the cutback.  The weak side DE is a one gapper and is coming hard up field and will play the QB all the way.  The Sam LB plays the spill created by the one technique and the strong side end, while the Mike LB is what some call the "fall back" player to the weak side.  The "fall back" player is responsible for the cut back or "wind back" that sometimes happens on the inside zone play.  Because of the play of the two gapping three technique the OT will be late scraping off to get the Mike and he is unblocked to help on the "wind back".

Against the triple option, the secondary has very little to adjust to.  The easy check here is to simply check into Bronco on the away side, or Solo.  I prefer Solo, as this keeps the WS with his eyes on the side the triple option has been run to as an extra player who can play if the FS "whiffs" on the number two receiver going vertical.

Again, the read side of the coverage can play "read force" where if the SS is unblocked then he will take pitch, and if the number two receiver crack blocks the SS then the FS takes pitch.  You also have two QB players in this scheme being the Mike and the weak side DE.  Again, as you can see, the defense is sound in it's attack of the offense.

Attack the Offense, Scenario #3- Front Set to the Running Back, Coverage Set Away

The only thing I do not like about this setup is the distance that the Mike must travel to get to his assignment.  This scheme is sound however, in that the "plus one" player to that side is the SS.  The strong side DE is a one gap player and will get up field and play the QB.  The three technique, being a two-gapper, mashes the guard into the A gap and plays for the cutback.  The play of the three technique creates a dilemma for the right guard and right tackle.  The guard is in no position to single block the strong tackle as he's expected to scoop to the 2nd level by getting help from the tackle.  If the guard sits and waits on the tackle, the Sam is unblocked coming right off the hip of the OT trying to scoop to the three.  If the guard tries to turn out on the three, and let the tackle drive up field for the Sam, then the three technique will come across his face into the A gap, and should be unblocked by virtue of sheer leverage.  Again, you have three players on two (don't forget the strong side DE).  To the weak side, the weak DE will spill the reach block by the OT (since he's a two-gapper), and the one technique is working hard up field.  The one technique must get up field and press the center so that the guard has to maintain the double team for fear of losing this block.  The reason the guard has to stay is the alignment of the one technique makes it impossible for the center to reach him.  This technique allows for the Mike to scrape across both the A and the B gaps and play for the spill.  Again, if for some reason the Mike does get picked off, you are "plus one" with the SS.

Against the triple option we see nothing changes from the above example where the offense runs the play to the away side.  The FS should make his check to Roll and let the new "away side" play either Sky or Solo.
 
Attack the Offense, Scenario #4- Front Set Away From the Running Back, Coverage Set to the Running Back

This look, again is not one of my favorites, due to the long distance traveled by the Mike LB, however it is still a sound and productive scheme.  To the strong side the DE is a one gapper, and will help play the Spill by the Sam LB.  The three technique is the two-gapper and will close the A gap playing for the cutback.  The Sam LB has a very simple job, fill the B gap to his side.  This gap should be open as the play side guard will be occupied with the three technique and the play side tackle has to handle the strong DE.  On the weak side the one technique makes life miserable for any double and scrape scenario that gets thrown his way.  The center cannot come off as the one technique penetrates up field in the A gap.  The weak DE is a two-gapper and will mash the OT down inside playing the B gap and allowing the Mike to scrape outside and play for the QB.

Nothing new here, as we've seen the triple option run to the read side before.  Again, not my favorite due to the distance traveled by the Mike, but this is a sound scheme if you get caught in this look.

Summary
As can be seen, no matter how you set it up, the divorced secondary coupled with the play of the TGOG technique is a very good weapon against the one-back zone option.  This scheme allows LB's to flow freely to the football, all the while allowing lesser athletes to play on your DL and make plays.  Utilizing the split field coverage scheme and playing coverages we already know such as Roll Solo, and Roll Sky make this a dangerous weapon in the hands of the right coordinator.

My preference is to keep the three technique away from the RB.  The read side of the coverage does not concern me because no matter what the offense does, the FS simply makes the adjustment, whether it be checking into Roll against motion, or playing read force when the option is run to the read side.  To me, the inside zone has a tough job running at both a three and a five technique.  Offensive coaches will tell you this is no big deal, but you watch enough film and you will see that zone teams struggle running at a three technique.

Another argument by many DC's is if you don't have the three technique set away from the back you don't have anybody playing for the cutback.  With the TGOG this is untrue.  You always have players dedicated to every gap and every phase of the option.  I think these factors alone are what has sold me on the TGOG scheme.

Keep the emails flowing, I try to get to them at least once a week, but keep in mind I have a job, and a team to coach as well.  Hopefully this stuff is helping!

Duece

Pursuit, Pursuit, Pursuit...Run to the Ball!

In a recent video clip (as seen here on Coach Hoover's site), I can be heard making the remark about my guys "running to the football".  After seeing this and hearing the comment, it makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck.  Over the years, I've coached some good teams, and some awful ones as well.  The one thing, I've ALWAYS been amazed at is how many coaches told me how well my defense ran to the football.  In this post, I'm going to describe some drills and a philosophy that will help you teach your defense to run to the football.

Pursuit Drills
In the beginning of my defensive career, I had little to no clue about running to the football and just how important it is to the overall success of your defense.  I was lucky, in that the defensive coordinator where I went to college was enamoured with running pursuit drills.  So, what did this dumb rookie coach do in his first gig as a defensive coordinator...you guessed it, we ran pursuit drills...daily.  I had no idea what I was doing, but it worked!  As I look back on those early years, I can tell you this, what I did helped those players learn the proper angles to take on a football field, as well as developing the "will" to get to the ball carrier.  Over my time, on the defensive side of the football, I've used several pursuit drills that I will share with you here.

Angle Pursuit Drill
The first pursuit drill I utilized (and still do to this day) is the Angle Pursuit Drill (APD).  This drill is done by simply placing five round cylinders on the ground with an approximate spacing of two to three feet between them.  Use injured players, cones, or other dummies to assimilate the offensive alignment you wish to create.  On a side note, this is a good way to go over alignment and assignment drills during the course of the season.  In the early stages we simply align to a pro set.  The drill and the landmarks are shown below utilizing the Bear defense.

Cones are placed along the sidelines and numbered one through 11.  As you can see, from the diagram, each player has a cone that he must run to.  Once the player gets to the cone, they are to turn back and face the middle of the field in a hit position and foot-fire until the coach blows the whistle.  If the rep was not done at full-tilt, then those players return to their original alignment and do the drill over again.  The corners should flip-flop every play so as not to kill the corner that has to run the farthest.  If the rep was good, blow the whistle and on command the players that just executed the drill jog down the sideline and back in behind the drill awaiting their next turn.  Also, on the whistle, the backups will jog into their position and be ready for the drill to begin.

The defensive linemen must all come across the ball, and breakdown before running to their cone.  You can also set up two sets of cones, one on each sideline and have the defense react to your movement.  As with most football drills, the possibilities are endless! 

Another tweak I have done is to have the defensive linemen all hit on their bellies to simulate getting cut and then have them jump up and run to their respective cone.  I have also had them read a coach holding the football for either run or pass.  If it's run, the linemen will break down and when the coach slaps the football they will run to their cone.  If the coach puts the football up by his ear, then this is a pass read and all the linemen must break down, but this time they must have their hands in the air.  Again, on command they turn and run to their respective cone on the sideline. 

Do not use a snap count, use an actual snap or movement.  Simply sliding your foot, or moving your hand in a snapping motion will do.  Have an actual cadence to force the players to have to focus on just the football, thereby tuning out any background "noise" such as the quarterback's voice. 

I used to do this drill an even amount of times to the strong side and to the weak side as well.  DO NOT do this drill only to one side, or only to the strong side.  You must mix things up to teach players to run at different angle to get to the football.

DO NOT settle for poor effort.  Poor effort results in more pursuit drills being added on to the total for the day.  Vary the total daily, if necessary, and even omit them if your team has had a good defensive game, or a very good practice.  You do not need to do these daily, but I do recommend doing them daily during the weeks leading up to your first regular season game.  After that we tone them down to about twice a week until mid-October and then we only run the once a week after that.  If I have been fortunate enough to make the playoffs I do not run them unless I see poor angles in game film or loafs (this will be discussed later).  Poor effort cannot be allowed, or the whole integrity of what you are trying to teach will be sacrificed.  I cannot stress this coaching point enough!

Screen Pursuit Drill

A few years back I was coordinating a defense going into a district game against a very good screen team.  That season my defense had struggled some with the screen, especially when thrown quickly to a good athlete.  I came across this screen pursuit drill that worked wonders for my defense.  You can find this drill in Vannderlinden's book on the Eagle and Stack Defenses.

Set up three dummies to represent lead blockers that have gotten down field.  Have a runner behind them.  Set this drill up to both sides of the field so you can work both the attack side and the chase side of the drill.  The DL will rush as they normally do.  Have the QB (coach) drop back five steps and then float back two more steps and deliver the ball to one side or other of the offense.  The DL, upon seeing the odd drop, should then settle and react to the throw.  Once they see the direction of the throw, the DL should then chase the ball carrier, playing him inside-out.  The DL nearest the QB should continue to rush.  Once the defense as seen the ball thrown, then they should react to the throw with the outside-most defender tackling the outside leg of the receiver (he doesn't actually make the tackle, but the idea here is to keep outside leverage on the ball carrier).  All other defenders should attack the inside leg of the defender and fit as shown in the illustration below. 

The angles shown here, properly leverage all the "new gaps" that have been created by the OL pulling and moving down field.  The left corner, in this case, would be the force player.  This player wants to attack all blockers with the inside arm and tackle the outside leg of the ball carrier.  The reason for the tackling of the outside leg, is that if the corner loses the receiver he should lose him back to the inside where pursuit is coming from.  All other defenders will tackle the inside leg and spill all blocks as they pursue to the ball carrier (obviously we are not tackling in this drill, however this SHOULD be your coaching point when running the drill).  The defenders on the far side of the defense should get in pursuit mode once they see the ball has been thrown.  The one item not shown is that the DL closest to the QB should rush the QB and stay with the QB in case the offense has a razzle-dazzle trick play on where they throw it back to the QB. 

Loafs

Loafs are easily caught on film.  If you are fortunate enough to have both a wide and tight copy of the film, use the tight copy and once the play is run and the clip is through, if all 11 players are not in the screen, then the defense has one pursuit drill the following week.  The first time we instituted this, our team had 42 pursuit drills to run the following week.  We ran every one of them.  That number dwindled to 28 the next week, followed by 20, 14, 11, then eight.  By this time we had entered the playoffs and in our four game run we averaged only three pursuit drills per week.  It took some time, but we got our loafs out by utilizing film and the fact that most players can't stand to run any extra than they have to.  The other good thing with running pursuit drills in this manner is it is not simply a punishment run, such as sprints.  This punishment has a purpose, to keep your defense aware of running to the football, and teaching proper angles of pursuit.

Turnover Quota

Another item I used in the past to create turnovers and help my defense run to the ball is a daily turnover quota.  The idea here is that you give your defense an amount of turnovers to create.  If the defense reaches their turnover quota, I would deduct one pursuit drill from the amount we had to run that day.  For every turnover we created it was one less pursuit drill the defense had to run.  However, if the defense did not reach their quota, then I added one pursuit drill.  The idea here is creating a cognitive awareness of running to the ball and creating a turnover when you get there.

Early on things were great with this concept of a turnover quota, however I started noticing players going for the ball instead of making the tackle.  So, I added in for every missed tackle, the defense got one more pursuit drill.  By doing this, the first defender to the football had to ensure that he made and secured the tackle while the other defenders could go for the football upon their arrival at the ball carrier.

Summary

In closing, defense is very simple, you align properly, know your assignment, run to the football and tackle once you get there you will win games.  At the very least you will make things difficult for your opponent's offense.  Teaching the part about running to the football must be ingrained in your defense from day one, and must also be reinforced daily.  I hope this post helps you to understand the importance of a defense that swarms the football!

Duece