Best Tackle Football Defense Alignment And Strategy
This is the greatest defensive strategy in all of football! This defense has won me countless games and championships. This is the defense run by De La Salle high school in California that won 151 games in a row! (Longest win streak in all of sports)
Start With Defense
Before I get to the defense, we need to understand a few points.
I start with defense and emphasize defense extensively because if your defense works, you can run almost any offense.
Let me say it differently.
If you have a great defense, you will be fine on offense.
The other way around doesn’t work.
In 2013, we had a smothering defense. Opponents never gained a single positive yard. They would go backwards, and we would get safeties, fumbles, and interceptions. We SMOTHERED people on defense. Just let that sink in: an entire season where every play the opposing team ran against us was a negative play.
The following two seasons were also excellent defensively, but some teams were able to gain positive yards. However, their net yardage at the end of the game was still negative.
That’s what I love to see, a brick wall defense. Some called it the Steel Curtain, Orange Crush, and other names. Our team colors most years were orange and sometimes blue, if I had a choice. I love the Denver Broncos and prefer those colors.
Most Effective Tackle Football Defense
The most important part of football is defense. This is not just the standard cliché where coaches say, “Defense wins championships”. Because I don’t think defense wins championships. I agree with the great Warren Sapp on this one, “Defense doesn’t win championships, but it gives you a chance”. Those were his exact words and he played on Tony Dungy’s famous “Tampa Two” defense that won a super bowl.
I could write an entire book on defense alone. Whether it’s flag football or tackle football, you have to play good defense.
While we don’t spend a ton of time in practice on “defense”, we do spend time on blocking, tackling, and getting off blocks.
We do spend time explaining defense and then practice it in scrimmages and tweaking.
I highly recommend you watch the opponent’s film. Why? Because you will know the opponent’s offense inside out.
In our last game of the 2024 season, we were up 16 to 10 and the opponents were in our red zone. They got a first down and had 8 chances to score in the last 1 minute and 42 seconds. They had all their timeouts. They did not score. We kneeled it on the 1 yard line when we took over on downs, and the game ended after the last two seconds ticked off the clock.
How did this happen?
I was telling our defense every play they were about to run right when they lined up.
How?
I watched their last 3 games over 100 times. I knew exactly which play they ran out of every formation. Unfortunately for them, we were able to “formation them”. Meaning, I knew the play they were going to run based on their formation.
They only ran about 6 plays, but they ran them out of different formations. So, I knew all their plays. It’s like having a cheat code.
A good coach should do this. Please watch film and study it!
Your defensive alignment will depend on your league rules. Some leagues only allow a certain number of players “in the box” to allow teams to run and not be smothered.
Aggressive Tackle Football Defense
Over the years, my defenses have been very smothering and very aggressive. We had to change our defensive alignment depending on which league we played in and what rules they had in place.
The defense described in this book is generally a 4-3-4 or a 5-2-4 alignment because we must play either a 5-2 or 4-3 front in our leagues. If I had to choose, I would probably want a 10-1, 6-5, 6-2-3, or 4-3.
If they allow a 4-3, and if we are playing a more read and react style defense, then I like the 4-3 better. If we are being aggressive and attacking, I like the 5-2 because the ends can go in hard and not worry about anything else.
My all-time favorite alignment is a 10-1. Yes, basically a goal line defense. If your league allows you to use goal line all over the field, then go ahead and do it. Just make sure everyone is accounted for when covering the wide receivers.
Don’t Overthink Football Defense
Normally, I use a 4-3, read and react, base defense. In 2017, that’s what we were using, and we had won every single game up until the championship game. The week leading up to the championship game, I wanted to get fancy. I switched to a more run blitzing 5-2 style defense and had the corners cover the receivers man to man. Even though they never throw.
To make things worse, I had my two linebackers blitz the A gap on every play. It was a bad idea. We couldn’t stop them. They would run, and once they got past our first line of defenders, it was goodbye. They even completed quick tight end pop passes. Their offensive coordinator knew what he was doing. In the second half, I switched back to our original defense and they never moved the ball again.
At the junior through high school level of football a basic 4-3 read and react style defense works very well. You just have to put the right athletes in the right places.
Creative Tackle Football Defensive Strategy
Be creative. These are concepts and ideas for you to use within the confines of your own league rules. We had to modify our defense over the years because the league keeps changing the rules to make it safer and more competitive.
These are the ways that I think about defense and how I decide to cover certain players and teams.
But it can evolve. If number 33 on the opposing team is a great catcher of the ball, then we have our best corner just follow him all over the field and cover him like glue. Problem solved.
If they like to use sweeps, we add more “corner backs” on the line to help contain and have the defensive ends get wide and deep to try and stop it or trail it from the backside.
If they use misdirection, we have some players on each side “sit and wait” for the reverse or misdirection plays.
This obviously can evolve during the game. Most coaches don’t adjust and just tell the defense to “hustle harder”. Hustling harder isn’t going to help. Get them in the right position to shut down plays and make plays.
Read through the defensive section like you would with offense. Try to understand why I am doing certain things or why we are coaching it that way. Try to understand my thinking and philosophy so that you can adjust it to fit your players and your personnel.
Most youth coaches are obsessed with offense and coming up with cool and crazy plays. None of that will matter if you can’t stop anyone. Sure, offense is fun and gets views. But you need a great defense.
If your defense is spectacular and not allowing positive yards, you can run I form all day and look like a genius.
If your defense is terrible and allowing tons of yards, you can run I form all day and look like an idiot.
Parents and players will be upset because you are using a “dinosaur” offense from the 1950s.
But if you are stopping everyone and winning, they will think you are a genius winning with a prehistoric offense.
Down Linemen Alignment and Responsibilities
The two down linemen pick a gap and attack the gap. Usually, we have them attack the B gaps, as pictured. We sometimes will blitz the middle linebacker through the A gap, so we like to leave it open. Most centers will snap the ball, then go to a side to help double team a defensive lineman, leaving the A gap open. A delayed blitz will get your MLB through untouched. Your two down linemen need to be large and strong. They don’t need speed. They need to be able to get off blocks.
Defensive Ends Alignment and Responsibility
The two defensive ends line up outside the tight ends or widest offensive linemen. They need to be pretty athletic. Their job is to get into the backfield and contain sweeps. They need to get to the depth of the deepest running back and contain him. If the play is going away from your side, trail the runner watching for reverses. If you get blocked by a running back or wide receiver, then the corner becomes the outside contain man whose job is to contain sweeps and wide plays.
Cornerbacks Alignment and Responsibility
Cornerbacks play a shallow zone. They can bump the receiver and knock him down at the line, but they let him go if he gets past them. They also need to contain the outside and not let anyone get outside of them to the sideline. Once an offensive player gets outside the corner, they are gone for a very long touchdown.
It would be nice if the corners could tackle well, but they don’t have to be the best tacklers. They must get to the right spot and re direct the runner back inside and not allow them outside. After they make sure the runner cuts inside, they can chase the runner to make a tackle.
Outside Linebackers Alignment and Responsibility
The two outside linebackers play a more read and react. They watch the backfield and flow to the ball. If scouting has shown that they throw to the tight ends, they need to keep an eye on the tight end. Sometimes we line the outside linebackers on the line of scrimmage outside of the defensive ends if the team really likes to run outside and especially if they are not good at reading and reacting. This puts them in position to make a play quicker. The two outside linebackers need to be fast, athletic, and sure tacklers. If the play is flowing away from their side, they need to trail the play and watch for reverses as well.
Sometimes we will tell an OLB to shadow a specific player. Like, “Nick your job is to follow No 33”. He just follows him wherever he goes, the other linebackers adjust. If No 33 motions, or goes out for a swing pass, or gets a hand off, the linebacker assigned to him will already be there and tackle him immediately. This works very well when you know that “No 33 is their best player”. Put your best player on him. Mentally this will really destroy the offensive players confidence if Nick destroys him every time he gets the ball.
If the offense is in trips or they put more wide receivers on the line, we will have the outside linebackers bounce out to cover that area and bump the receivers. Unless we know it’s their best receiver, we don’t have them man cover that receiver.
Middle Linebacker Alignment and Responsibility
The middle linebacker sits in the middle and reads and reacts as well. Sometimes we blitz him through the A gap if we know they are running up the middle. He should not get outside the defensive ends or outside linebackers. His job is to watch the backfield and stop runs up the middle through the A or B gaps.
Safety Alignment and Responsibility
The two safeties should sit back and wait for interceptions. Since most teams don’t really throw past 5-8 yards, we have them play pretty close to the line. They mainly function as run support. Teams will sometimes surprise us and will throw at random times. We always intercept these. We don’t have them line up more than 5-7 yards deep. If the offense lines up in trips (three wide receivers to one side), we have the safety shade more to that side and the other safety shades towards the middle.
The yellow shaded areas are generally the zones that each player covers.
This defense alone will win you championships!
The “Sweep Spot” is the area where the two defensive ends need to end up on every play. It’s the spot that’s as deep as the deepest running back. Rush in hard on the outside of the very last offensive lineman and get as deep as the deepest player in the backfield. Take a sharp turn toward him. Do not let him outside of you.
The Sweep Spot is the yellow rectangle.
What if you get blocked by a second running back who is playing the role of a lead blocker?
If there is another running back in the backfield running at you to block you, do your best to stand your ground. Make the runner go around him, which throws off the play and allows your team mates to get to him. Get on all fours and don’t move!
He will either cut it inside and run an Off Tackle type run or go around your defensive end, wider and deeper, and “string it out”. In that case, the remaining players will get to him. You want the runner to have to go much wider and deeper, because it will be a bigger loss of yardage.
The left defensive end (the defense’s left, pictured on the right of the above picture) needs to be super athletic because most teams run right. So, your left defensive end must be very good.
If they run Off Tackle, the outside linebacker and defensive end both must attack the C gap.
What if the wide receiver runs over to jam your defensive end?
Then the cornerback now has to get to the sweep spot.
The defensive ends and wide receivers play a crucial role in stopping the most dangerous play in all of youth football. You must coach to stop the sweep.
They need to be disciplined as well. If the left defensive end gets to the Sweep Spot and the play is going to the right, he needs to trail the runner and watch for reverses. You have to watch for the reverse. The reverse is the second most dangerous play in all of football.
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