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The offense will n eve r dictate defensive alignments', schemes, or .coveraqes. Those' issues will be defensive decisions. option respon$i.bilittesr11 ust be :an Inherent. aspect >6f every defensive scheme. Every defensiye' scheme must ." defense of four vertical.
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The number of defensive players in the box must equal the number of offensive players In the box.
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Avoid the use of a four man side unless you have calculated the risk.' Eliminate the effectiveness
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NOSE: He does not need to be big. Strength is important, but quickness and ,toughness are more important. I personally look for a wrestler type of, kid. Remember, the nose is a penetrator, His ability to escape and avoid is paramount. 3 TECH~IOUE: He needs to be a bigger and well muscled type of kid. In this defense, everything. starts with quickness'. However, the 3 TECH becomes a key factor versus' inside run. I look for a weight room body. I like a kid who loves to build- his body, especially his lower body. 5 TECHNIQUE: -This is probably our least skilled kid., Coachability and courage are most important than physical attributes. His willingness to ,,~19settie-edge and splatter arehis top tralts.. ',' , , - "' .. ,' " 9 'TECHNIQUE: This is our best, athlete~, He needs to have the total' package. Height at this position is a' definite plus, MAC: This position requires sorrie size. Height is not an issue; neither is speed. He must be able to physically handle the fullbacks on your ' , schedule'.' His ability to read' and: a willingness to attack are crucial. WILL: This' kid will show up in many shapes and sizes. 1 look for one thing: A passion to get to the football. That' is not something you coach . . "This kid "is my quarterback. He understands the game:' He 'must have the , ability to check audibles and keep you in the best situations defensively.
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SA M: He must' possess the qualities necessary to play LB with one added dimension: a greater ability to run. His touqhness may need to be nurtured. He must, however, be willing to' run and hit. AND W IS: These two players' are interchangeable. They are really LB's who again possess a greater ability to run, In 'addition, they must ,be good tacklers. Remember in this defensive scheme, the safeties are typically not accounted for in the blocking scheme. Obviously, we wan our better athletes at these positions.

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CORNERS: These kids are man guys. I want as much speed and quickness as you can .find at this position. Do not. worry about toughness. That must be nurtured. I like track guys and basketball guys. Remember, you cannot coach speed. You must recruit it.

Remember, these' are some guidelines that have worked for us. This is not an exact science. It is probably safe to say that you will have a few kids out of position, especially early in the season. Study your film and talk to your playersabouttheir coni fort zone. By game #3, you need to have your square pegs plugged in. Then just keep doing what you've been doing .
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PHILOSOPHY

Multiple Scheme. 4-3 Teaching 'Base. Match Coverage: Combination Man to Man wI Zone Under Be Gap Sound. Defend formations not the field. Maintain an equal player ratio in the box. Simple reads/aggressive emphasis. Stop the run.' Force team's to throw effectively. Do not expect inside LB's to ~efend the pass. '

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THE SPLATTER

My research on offensive theory and philosophy has led me to one major conclusion. Defenses become ineffective when they fail to dose the edge versus any down block scheme. Therefore, it is imperative that we develop a defensive concept that addresses. this number one concern. In addition, I must stress that until we can effectively and consistently defeat the down block schemes, every thing else is immaterial. Understand that this technique will be a radical change to what you are presently doing with your down guys. This technique encourages an aggressive take-off. We want these down kids to attack and react. Unlike most techniques, we do not want any contact with the offensive lineman versus a down block. Rather, we want the defensive player to run the foot line of the offensive lineman.
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STANCE
We want the inside foot back and the inside hand down. This 'alignment and foot position allows the player to step down with his first step. With outside foot back, a cross-over step would be required to accomplish the .:down move.

KEY (TRIGGER)
We read the near foot of the offensive man. In our way, of: thinking, the offensive lineman's near foot will tell us everything we need to know. When the foot goes inside, we are screaming. We teach our kids to expect the down block In addition, we get our focus off the ball, off the cadence, and off any other distraction.

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4-3 FRONT ALIGNMEl'~T

The Screamer Drill gets the defensive lineman in an attackattitude, TIiat is' critical for me. In addition, it also allows the coach to work with different anatomical problems that you will find with every kid. Flexibility; visfon;: size.rete, willchangetheallgnmentof each kid. TEACHINGPROGRESSION In the summer, the first drill 'that we use is called Screamer Drill. We do this in shorts and T-shirts. It's a . great drill to get kids :into a scream and splatter mentality. We always go on the movement of the QT. Coaching point: Teach all of your players from a 5 TECH .

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This phase is done once you are in pads. It is the heart and soul of the scheme. Wewillintegrate every block . , .. scheme our opponents will use in this drill. The primary schemes are rep'd 75% of the time. They are as follows: aT down/FB dive, or down/FB lead, O'I down/G pull, O'T pull/Ff block back, .. aT base, or hinge. .
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The following ~ drills are critical to teaching and effectively implementing this defensi scheme. You must provide enough developmental time in your practice plan f~e . ~ to occu~ G DEFENSIVE LINE: THE SPLATfER DRILL Defensive reaction to the ''Down Block" is first and foremost in our teaching progression. All of our down guys work this drill from the 5 Technique. The thought process off the down plock is dive. trap chase, climb. The coach will point opt the offensive assignments. The drill begins on the movement of the QT.- Everyone watches him. (Note: We do not use a ball in this drill.)

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All of our down people, except for the nose, use these basic techniques. Their relative distance from the ball relates to the speed or time things occur.

Throughout my, IS years coaching linebackers, we have read guards, FB's, both backs an any other key. The concept that I will present is by far the best that I have found. The ke to this drill and the success of your linebacker play is the involvement of the safeties. In' our,way of thinking, we play with FIVE LINEBACKERS NOT TIIREE. The overall thought process is one of remove and replace. The ~B never worries about what is behind him. Cutback is not his problem. This is a,critical coaching point. It promotes aggressive play! We 'want them running to the point of attack. ' My early reluctancein playing the 4-3 centered around the three bubbles in the defense, Incorporating this drill and the reads associated with the drill removed any doubt about the defense being soft. . In order to set upthe Barrel Drill, you will need 4 garbage cans and 8:-10 players. Our backups provide the personnel for the drill .. The second's get about 20% of the drin time. (2 or 3 . reps to 10 reps for the starters) ','The cans represent theposition of thedownIineman, '.They createexceflentIandmarks fortherunninglaries. We.donotuse a ban and we goon the movement of the TE. The Coach points out the movement to the offensiveplayers.

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The third drill that we work on is called the CORNER DRILL. We teach Man Techniq with our cornerbacks from day one. The three techniques we teach are PRESS, BAIL an OFF.. OFF is our base coverage. However, most of the coaching time is spent working on '. PRESS because that is the toughest thing to master . .All summer, we want to play press. During the season, we probably play press 20% of the time. In all of these techniques, our focus is the extended receiver. Our primary mind-set is to take away the deep "all. Secondly, we do not allow any-yards after the catch. We tell our corners never expect anyh~]p! You have one man to defend. 'Cet the job done. The first phase of the Corner Drill is about positioning on your man. We do not use a ball. W erotate4-5 corners irr this drill. .

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THOUGHTS ON TACKLING
I think that most coaches would agree that effective tackling is the key to any defense. The problem is how' you implement the techniques of tackling and how you maintain that sharpness throughout an extended season. Let's face it, you only have a certain number of players. The good ones play "NICKED-UP." That's a reality of the game. As coaches, we need to find a balance between the technical skills and. the brutality of the game. In 1991, I made a conscience effortto limit the amount of full speed (to the ground) contact, The approach paid-off as we maintained our overall health throughout twelve games. Here are a few of the ideas that we implemented, 1. A daily low impact activity. that stresses "rolling your hips". Eliminate 1 on 1 tackling drills. 3. "Live" 7 on7 Skelly Period., Weplay "Cover 0" and allow onlyone man to make the tackle. . 4. "Live" 2 minute drill in the preseason. 5. 30 minutes per day - Indy Drill, "Bang and Release".

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The techniques shown below teach the fundamentals of good tackling. These techniques do not require pads and can be implemented in your ~ummer workouts. PHASE:ffl .The tackler bends at the knees in aready position. 'His nose should touch the belt buckle of the offensive man. On calli the defender will throw himself upward and catch the offensive man's shoulders. The two players will be engaged and still. The defender wiIInold thisposition untn -the 'coach says - down. The finishedposition is an extremely arched . back with- the laces of shoes making contact with the ground. 'We are trying to promote "hitting on rise". This drill helps strengthen the lower back
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PHASE #3: In this phase, the players are 5 yards apart, On command; they sprint to the offensive man and assume the hitting position in Phase #2. They wait for the THROW COMMAND, Holding until the DOWN COMMAND. . PHASE #4: In this phase, we will begin 5 yardsapart, Wewill repeat Phase 3. However, on command, the' defender will attempt to lift his man off the ground. Again, hold until the coach calls down. This phase builds strength and timing. In addition, the players learn the value of maintaining s,?me flex in their legs. If they lock up, their hitting base is lost. PHASE #5: Again we will repeat, Phase #3 &#4. However, after the lift, we want some leg drive. The defender must walk his man four steps backward and hold.' .. We do this 5 Phase routine everyday. It is part of our pre-game warm up on game night. We fhid that these drills develop the strength and coordination of those muscle groups specific to tackling. . ....
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In addition; we'~iirn,inat~ the .f~ar factor, especially in the inexperienced player.vl find that courage is directly related to confidence. The young players will get better. Remember, they are all you've got! ...

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The most common question that is asked.in regards to the 4-3 is a concern 'about Double Tight End formations. I will cover some of my thoughts on the issue. Number One: Don't screw with your front. I cannot stress that . near enough. Number two: Make it simple for the kids. Number three: Maintain your man ratios in the box. Our first adjustment is to bring the W/S down in-what we call a loaded position. He ~ll align o~n;apoutside shade of the TE (similar to the SAMin Stack Defense). His key is the TE. His progression is Dive, Trap, Close, Climb. Identical reads as the 9 TECH.The Corner's match is the TE. Versus TEBlock the corner will now be involved in the run ratio. Therefore, you must work 'theBf in the Barrel Drill.

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In order to. have a sound, effective ..defensive package, responsibilities must be understood and built into every scheme. If your BASE DEFENSEcannot stand up to the option, you need a new Base. 'Gimmicks vs. Option football will eventually -breakdown. Since we attack and react versus. block schemes, option principles are taught from Day 1 in drill work. Small-Group or 1/2 line option drills will coordinate player responsibilities. (NOTE: We never use a ball when coaching option responsibility.) . READ. CALL
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EASY CALL Is the second way we handle option. In theEA$Y CALL, we predertermine all option responsibilities. This makes for a good change up. However, natural seams are created because we will not close hard off the down block. COACHING :POINT: The EA.5Y CALLmatches to 4-4 Principles rather than 4-3 principles. 50 as we align personnel, the defense takes on a 4-4 o appearance. 0
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In most defensive schemes, the responsibility to contain QBBOOTis placed on the Defensive End. In this scheme, the responsibility for contain will only rest on the DE if the Of is ina Ba.seor Reach Block, If the O'T turns back to block the "B gap", the 5 TECHwill"treat this as a down block and .hopefully will splatter the pulling guard. This removes all QB' responsibility from the' DE. The primary Boot player in this scenario is the W/S~ He is the cutback player on flow away. Boot action is counter-action to us. The QB must be treated as a potential run threat. The W/S must main tain his leverage and become. the primary forte. on the QB. Since we are in match coverage, all potential receivers are covered.
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Another 'critical coaching point with respect to BOOTis with the LE'S. I make a major point when coaching the LE's about the intensity of the running backs. I find tha(. the intensity for attacking the LOS is' diminished. Even the well coached RBIsdo not sell the run on BOOT. Therefore, BOOTReaction for the LB'smust be schooled every day. This is .done in the Barrel Drill.

Boot to the TE is treated the same way. However, the SAM'is now the . clltbackplayer .. l:fwee.xpect'Strohg Side Bod~Wewill ame' plan "llie . g SAlvI. e will Widen his alignment in Base Defense, StackDefense puts the W SA1'vfon the LOSand he would have the QB- on Boot. One last coaching point: If a Down 'and Distance tendency can be established with respect to BOQT,an EDGEBlitzwilldiscourage it. WAGGLE

Waggle action is not an issue to us because the FB and the QB end up on the same side Of the formation. The path of the FE'will bring the MAC directly to' the QB. SAMhas the FE in the flat.' The Willworks to wall the Post. If theWILL get too deep on his run read, he will continue to pressure the QB. NOTE: The W/S has the TBon throwback screen.

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BLITZ , L willshew-you -threeblitzesthathave Withsto~d the test of time. W~'''' practice these blitzes versus every conceivable aligiunent and play.' Remember, there is a risk factor associated with any blitz. A. 'properly timed blitz may create a huge play. A poorly executed blitz could cost vou a game. Because of the .aggressive nature of this defense! you will limit the use of the blitz. That's really a blessing; Calculate the risk and be sure that your kids are prepar~d to h~<:lle as many situations as,they are likely to see. RULES FOR BLITZING Not all kids are good blitzers. Find the good 'ones and let 'em go. Option responsibilities must be thoroughly.drilled for every BUTZ~ All,Blitzes are EasyCalls.. -. ", ' ','" ,. '3}Liriiii the number of BLITZESou use. Quality not quantity. y 4) Find atendencyand/ or a weakness and attack it with a BilTZ. (ie. Personnel, Blocking Scheme, Down/Distance, etc.) 5) 'Provide enough practice time to SChooland practice all your BIlTZES. 6) When in doubt, DON'TBUTZ! ' .. . , BLAST/COVERZERO This is my #1 BUTZ. It is the best BLITZ all of football and it is one of in the simplest to teach. It is really a 4-4 BLITZ.We shoot the MACand the WILLinto both "A GAPS". It puts .pressure on the Centerand the Fullback in BLITZPICK-UPsituations. ~OACHING POINT: Treat all BLITZES RUN BLITZES.Never let a RB as ";[OS'$ your face.. Prababl~ Cause all RB's. The QBis our last con:ern: . . Easy Call versus Op tiori 0'<'F"c~v \ v\.s ~\..)t 1) 2)

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these sets have returned to the game. I believe that the philosophy is .similar to the Service Academies (Air Force, Army, etc.). They rely on finesse and deception, multiple sets, no huddle, etc.; as the attempt to do more with less is-crucial. This past season we faced these offensive styles.in the playoffs. Initially, it was a serious cause for concern. We had only seen one true Winged-T team' all year and Double Tight sets were in goal line offense situations. We hadfive days to prepare. The major question was, can_we stay inour 4-3 Base. The answer isyou must. Here's what we did! .__ LUCKY/RINGO DEFENSE Thefirst ..hing: we, did was to analyze Jt:heit'Offerise~, ~() were their big t playguys? What did they want to hang their hat on? How effective were they throwing the ball? The first opponent averaged 4.5, passes per game. Their FE had 1300 yards in 9 ball games. They had good size in the line and played a number of kids both ways. They ran the option" the belly series, and some Winged-T.The one TE had 20 catches for the season. ~.:-::c"': After two days of second-guessing and experimentation, we conduded that we must maintain our concepts up front. We had come too far to change now. After all, if we were to lose faith in the scheme, what would 'the kids do. We stayed with the Base Front-but we made some "read" changes and .:included what we called a "wild card player". LUCKY fRINGO

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POINT: We schooled the SIS to see the dive fake. deep enough to be_?:_~l!g:psonthe second back.
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The last part of the scheme dealt with our C and WIS. Film study led me to astriking condusion. TIlE PATH' OF THE HALFBACKS DICTATED \ . THE PLAY. AND MOST WPORTANTLY, THEfATH Of .THE' FARHB, , ...WOULP: SELL, THE PLAY.' So we usedanoldLbconceptwlth.our C and ,,', .: WIS. We cross read the Hfl's. .

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the -next concern was an' adjustmen t to the Double ~Ving. This team lik~d ~o s~ift tp Double Wing. F.oru: ~e adjus~ent~as simple.. The C and W/S' Just matched 'off on the wings Just as we would versus a Wlnged-T tearn.. .

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WINGED-T This offensive concept has been around for a long time. More and more teams are utilizing the schemes especially at the high school .level. The structure of the offense is very adaptable for high school. The results speak for themselves. . . Defending the WINGED-T quite a challenge. I believe that the attack 4-3 is is the best way to defend it for several reasons.
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Penetration causes execution problems. Splatter technique hurts the "gap or down block scheme." The ability to incorporate your safeties in the run ratio leaves them unblocked. -. 4) . Match coverage provides extra runsupport.; 5) . the threatof 4verticai is nevera problem.

Your game plan vs the WINGED-T must include a few elements that allow you to dictate what happens. . 1) You must elimnate the run game to the TE side. 2). You mustbeable to adjust to quick motion. 3) You must-cover all possible receivers versus Boot and Waggle. 4) Be sound versus misdirection. We start with our BASE versus WINGED-T, ith one adjustment. The S/S w and the Fe switch men. We want the Fe to be matched to a stationary guy -and the S/S to be matched to a traveler.

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The SAMmust be alert to the QBBOOTsince he, is the cut back player to the TE side. Penetration is a major concern for WINGED- TEAMS. It disrupts timing T and interferes with backside pullers. I devised a Blitz mechanism that has beenextremely effective versus WINGED-T Teams. We call it.MQ BLITZ. ' Quick motion triggers the blitz..

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Those are the basic concerns that I have with respect to, the WINGEDT.. Tendencies that surface throughout HIm study must be covered. Down/Distance tendencies must really be obvious to make them an issue. I find that Down/Distance tendencies that happen during the game are more reliable.