90 FOOTBAIL COACI NG S',fr,A.
TE(irES
A Fundamental Approach
to Defense
wrrn DAN McCARNEY
I have avery strong beliefin lundamentals. That
is an area that is too often overlooked,particu-
larlyonce the scasonstarts ardcoachcs are lnole
conc€medwith game planning-Alter €nch gane,
our defensive coachcsratc our players on these
. Squaring their shoulders.
. KeFpinCrhp plalside drm and lFg lrc,
. Maintaininc a base.Don't crossov€r
. Usinc crossfaccs.Again, don't crossover.
. Kcepine thcir pads ovcr the toes. Deliver
. Hittingwith their hands and shoulder pads,
ncvcr cxposing the flcshy part oftheir bod-
. Staying in a football positi0n.
We have established a philosophy of control-
ling the passinggame.We'll give up complctions,
but we shess not allowing the receiver to run af-
ter he catchesthe ball and, obviously,we don't
\,"ant th€ ball thm$'n behind us.
Finrt, howcvcr,wc must stopthe run andmust
commit as many peoploas possibleto do so. The
fnllo$Ing i. nur phrl...pl^yr pr. u. th" r'un'
. Eliminate the big plar. Stretch the ball
east and west, oliminatine the cutback. Use
proper pursuit angles.Take all the ball to
reduce blocking angles.
. Disrupt the offensiue rhythm, Play
multiple fronrs. Stem the front (pre-snap)
and rock tbe flont (on the snapl.
1991Procce,:1ines. Cad.h Allarcz is h.dd.oa.h at thp Uni.efti6 olw!<nnNn1.(ha(h Mccam<,r i6 hen.l <:oachat
krtd Sktte tlhileBil!.
. Eliminate mental erors. Stay simple and
. Be ph$icdl.
. Pla! consert'dtilr€b. Play down-and-
distance percentages and tendencies. Use
'$n-^1c,1 .lrnt". Zon^ rnd man-lrFe in
secondaryEmploy prcssure as surp s€.
. Tahe all the b.rll to reduce blockine
. Giue pktyers a three-way go,
A Dozen Thinas to Stress
on Derense
. Pla) si,h Erpa, pmotion and enthu.'asm
€ach time j-ou step on the field.
. Developbis play pelsonalitjr.
. Out-hustle the opponent and b€ stronger
each snap as the game wears on.
. Believe in yourselfand your buddy lined up
. B€lievcthat you and your teammatesare the
toughest $oup on the held.
. Believe you can rvin and cxpect to wir
. Play together
. Refuse to stay blocked, even though you'lI
get blocked from many angles.
. Developa variety of techniques;have more
than one way to defeat a block.
. Ilelieve that you are soing to make the tackle
on every play.
. Don'tuse lackofphysical skills as anexcuse.
. Show great character. Overcomeadversity,
injury',and heartache to win.
 TIIAM DEFEI-SE 9r

r: i: r 1! lit t 1 i i t I i: ] l l: i i, : r i
Switching From the 50
to the 43 Defense
GRANTTEAFF
1 1 i 1 ;1itll lir*Q i,iia', 1i):,,, rl ll ai:,i
, )ur defensiv€philosophycomplemenh o11Ioffen- reverse. Drop end is responsiblefor pitch on
:Lre approach.We frrst must be able to mn the option and pass defenseversus pass. On op'
rall and defendthe run, and then work toward a tions, the one not responsible for contain should
'.,lan.ewith our passinggamcand defendrng rhe support alley (inside-out pursuit) to the ball.

Defensively,we stressteachingresponsibilities
:nd principles.We believein a base defensethat
flouREI l sod"r""*
:i suitable to our peGonnel, that is balanced in
.€lation to the ofTensiveset, that is based upon
lap control up front, and thai is flenible and ^,.-.1-=__A
irmple to execute.we challengeeachteam mem
:!.r $rith basic responsibilities on every play. When
:reakdowns occlq they're rccognized quickty and o s-]rait
idjustnents are made.
our base defense evolved ftom an odd or 50
o"Q c,o), c
.ook with multiple schemes to an Even or 43 look. Etttr
uon€ln
\W\en \1'efirst went to ihe 43 1ook,we pi ayed only ^^ \ \- wB
the two defensive tackles down. The de{ensive -n
endswere linebacker tlpeB who stoodupin front
of tight ends.We'veput our defensiveends down
in front of the tight end now, although they occa- in Ihp 43 , sceFig-
Our bas,crespon"ibi)itieh
sional)y slide down over the off€nsive tackles and ure 2l are as follows:
play like a defensive tac}le in an odd tuont.
iddle Unit (Mike and Tsl Must control
four gaps (A and B). Mike has both B gaps ei-
Basic Responsibilities in 5O ther on quick flow or count€r flow (dive iheat)'
and 43 Defenses Both Ts must control respectiveA gap.

In the 50 or Odd defens€(see Fisure 1) our rc-

sponsibititieswere broken down in the folowing 2 l-;"*"*
FTGUBE
Middle Unit {Nose and LBsl Must con-
trol four gaps (A and B) Nosehas bothAgaps'
OnsideLB has B gap BacksideLB hetps Nose
with A gaps when ball is awav. Backside LB
must protect his B gap on counter flow and
onsideLB must help Nose withA gaps
Oulside Unit (Ts and Esl-Tackles must
C
control rcspective C gaps outside in veNus base
block- Ball away,cmss face ofoffensive tackle
to control B gap on cutback. Ends contml tight
-wB
end from head-upposition and contain QB (on Culback
option or pass) ball awav hail for bootlegs and

F
92 FOOTBALLCOACHINGSTRATEGIES
Outside Unit lEs and CBl Must control C
gap and contain QB. When ball is away, end
generally has tlail responsibility. The end or
LB responsiblefor C gap must squeezeB gap
outside in when ball is inside. On option, the
one not responsiblefor contain should inside-
out pu$uit (alley) to the ball.
Seven Principles of Defense
Regadl€ss of whether we are basic odd (50) or
€ven (a3), the following principles apply.
1. Prirr.ar! support-Outside-in suppoft on
wide pl ay Take on lead blocker on sweepsand
options. Norrnaly responsible for the pit{h.
2, ,Force-Widest man in d€fenseby alignment.
Nercr lct ball.carricr oulside of you.
RespoNible for the one out pass. Secondary
suppod outsidein.
3, Contain QB on option and spdnt-out or
roll-out pass. Squeezefrom outside rn rne
off-tackle hole on play inside. InBide-out
support on wire play.
4. ?rtir-Responsible for bootlegs,reverses,
and wide cutbacks when ball starts away.
5, Cutbach Responsiblefor cutback when
ball stads away {on't oven-un.
6. Gap rcsponsibility
and pursuit-Front
seven given gap rcsponsibility and down the
line of sc.immage punuit.
7. Option responsibilitr
Zinemen-If ball is faked or given inside of
you, squeezefrom outside in, but don't lose
your outside position on bsse block. If
off€nsiveblocker oppositeyou blocks down,
closedown and play ball-carrier outside in.
Keep pads square and get a piece oloffensrve
blocker Ifyou are aligned head-uporinside
of ofTeffive blocker, don't let blocker offLOS
on inside release.Always be in position to
pursue inside out if ball goeswid€.
Linebachers Read QB and pitchback lor
option.Keep position ar1ddon't stepupfield.
Baseblock, outside-in squeeze,out or down
block,read nesh or shulfle out ifeverfthing
in front ofyor clogsup. Don't overrun QB.
Giv€ alley s.lpport versus pitch.
Secondory The basic rule is we wanr one
more defender on the pedmet€r than the
offensehas blockprs.Thiq iq our premise
regardless of the alignment of the ftont
43 Versus Zone Option
The college 43 has some advantages over the odd
alignment ve$us the split-veer attack and the
blocking schemesthat are popular. One of the
trends in the veer attack is the zoneoption. This
playhas tused th€ inBideand outside veer plays.
It puts a great deal ofpressue on the nose and
delensivetackle in the odd alignment.
The QB reads the defensive tackle. If tackle
stays ouhide, QB will give to dive back hitting
inside legofoffensive tackle.IfQB thinks he can
beat the defensive tackle to the outside, he will
fake the dive back and option offthe next offen-
sive man to sho\r The play is designedto create
a running tane for the dive back, or tie up the
defensivenose,LB, and tackle on the dive so the
QB can option oflthe end.
The tight end and flanker are Iead blockers,
and the pitch back or QB, dependingupon what
the defensive end does, will have a one-on-one
situation on the comex The offensiveline is zone,
ar€a blocking to the side olplay to cut offinside-
out squeezeby the defense,as well as widen the
defensive tackle to create an inside running lan€,
or tie tackle up on dive back and get a one-on-one
situation on the comer (seeFieure 3).
FIGURE
3 43 vef6uszoneoption
?I
c
l SS c
FS
The 43 makes it more difiicult for the offen-
sive linemanto area block and cutoffthe inside-
out Bqueezeby the defense,thus closing down
the running lane ofthe dive back. The wide align,
ment ofdefensive €nd and the off-the-line play of
the outside LB makes it hard on the QB and pitch
back to get a one-on-one situation on perimet€x
The dive back'Eangle gives Mike a quick read to
the ofl-tackle hole. The alisnment of defensrve
 TEAM DEFENSE 93

tackles makes it difficult for the center and onside

guard to execute the zone block (seeFigue 4).
FIGURE
6
4
TIGURE

.cDO,llQc
-rl
o ss
(.\ fr<M E
I SB WB c c
FS

43 Vercus Trap Option 43 Versus Outside Veer

Another popular play is the tlap option from split
Another play that the veer teams like is the out-
backs. In the odd alignments, this play putB a
side veer or load option, with the onside guad
great deal ofpressure on the onside LB and tack-
pulling to lead and block alley support. W€ feel
les. The tlap play, a companion to the option,
that covering the ofensive guards and penetlat-
forcesthe defensivetackle to closeinside hard to
ing with our defensive tackles makes it difficult
the omsidpoffensive
"lnp the lmp. This allows to pull the guards on the loaded play and cut off
guard to seal oflinside-out puruuit, and gives the
our delensivetackles with the center or offensrve
QB and pitch back a one-on-on€situation on the tackles on reach or down block (seeFieure 7).
corner (s€eFigure 5).

FIGURE7 l-;*""r"d"d.P,i-

The trap option does not put the same pres-

sure on the defensive€nd and LB in the 43, be-
causeby alignment the tlap play must hit fur-
ther insid€ than it does in the odd alignment.
Again, the outside LB ofT the LOS has a better
opportunity to read the inside fake and play otr
the pullins euard, making it hard for QB and pitch
back to get the desired one-on-one situation on
the comer (seeFigure 6).
43 Versus tfte Pass
It's always been our philosophythat a good pass
r'ush is the foundation of effectivepass defense.
In our basic defensivesch€me,we believe that a
four-man rush rrith four men covering under
neath and 3-deepcoverageis the optimum ratio
and distribution.