Chapter 13 - How To Teach Defense

Teach your quarterback that he must first have a complete knowledge of defensive football. Teach him the strengths and the weaknesses of the defensive alignments outlined in this chapter. Test him frequently to be sure he understands the theory of attacking various defenses. Only by obtaining his "degree" in defensive football can he expect to intelligently contribute to his team's offense. If the quarterback does not know and understand defensive football, his play calls are strictly a "hit or miss" proposition.

Accumulate Defensive Sheets

Present your quarterback with these accumulate defensive sheets on 8.5 x 11 paper to teach defensive recognition. By listing just three defenses on each sheet, the quarterback will visualize and study the defenses better than if they were all on one card. We use the Grapho-o-play rubber hand stamp to make the sheets neat. Another method is to have the sheets printed. These defensive sheets serve as an excellent testing device for the quarterback in that he may diagram all blocking assignments versus a particular defense for any play and have plenty of room. This is another reason why just three defenses per sheet is advantageous.

See Diagram 61:

DIAGRAM 61

Impress on your quarterback that methods of scoring on defense outnumber those on offense six to three.

How to score on defense:

1. You can score on a punt return.
   
   
2. You can score on an intercepted pass.
   
   
3. You can score on recovery of a fumbled ball in mid-air.
   
   
4. You can score by advancing a blocked punt.
   
   
5. You can score by forcing a safety.
   
   
6. You can score on recovering a fumbled ball in the end zone.

How to score on offense:

1. You can score on a forward pass.
   
   
2. You can score on a run.
   
   
3. You can score on a field goal.

Defensive Quarterback

We do not believe that it is wise to have your offensive quarterback call defensive signals. Without question, he is the most logical player because of his knowledge of defenses and generalship training. However, we believe you are asking too much of your quarterback. We have tried it and discovered that our quarterbacks would rather not call defensive signals. Naturally, it would depend upon the individual's experience. We believe the defensive quarterback calling is just as important as the offensive calling. We have from three to five meetings a week with the defensive signal callers by themselves.

How to recognise defenses

Teach your quarterback that he must recognize the defense. Teach him the defenses listed on the accumulative sheets diagram.

Three Steps In Teaching Defense

Step 1, at this stage of the game, is to simply teach him that there are just two classifications of defenses. They are as follows:

1. The Diamond Defense is composed of an eight-man front and three deep. See Diagram 62.

2. The Box Defense is composed of a nine-man front and two deep. See Diagram 63.

Later on we will discuss the strength and weakness of these defenses and what constitutes an odd and even defense. Beware —do not "throw" too much at him. By teaching the defenses listed on the accumulative sheets first and then proceeding to the other phases of defense, recognition by the quarterback should progress.  

V       V      V    V

V      V       V       V  V
O OOKOOO O

DIAGRAM 63

Step 2—odd and even

The next step in teaching your quarterback defensive recognition is the difference between an odd defense and an even defense. Teach this by illustration.

1. An even defense is simply one with no defensive man playing over your center. Even alignments are four, six and eight-man fronts. (Diagram 64)

DIAGRAM 64

2. An odd defense is simply one with a man playing over your center. Odd alignments are three, five, seven and nine-man fronts. (Diagram 65)

Seam defenses

A "seam" or "gap" or "slot" defense is one where the defensive men line up in the "seam" between two offensive linemen. Seam alignments are four, six, and eight-man fronts. (Diagram 66)

DIAGRAM 66

Off-set defenses

An "off-set" defense is one in which the defensive men are playing on the outside shoulder of the offensive lineman. The Oklahoma and 6-1 umbrella are "off-set" alignments. (Diagram 67)

Even—No defensive man playing                Odd—A defensive man is on the
over your center.                                        line of scrimmage playing over
                                                                  your center.

V   V      V   V                             V      V      V

OOXOO                   OOXOO

     O                               O

DIAGRAM 68                     DIAGRAM 69

6—1 UMBRELLA is an offset defense and an even defense.

w                               w

V  V V           V V  V

   O OOXOOO O

           O

    O    o    O

          DIAGRAM 70

A diamond defense is diagrammed below. It has three deep pass defenders, forming a triangle in the secondary, thus allowing eight men up front which may have an odd, even, or seam alignment. (Diagram 71)

A box defense is diagrammed below. It has two pass defenders forming a box in the secondary to cover the three zones, thus allowing nine men up front which may have an odd, even, or seam alignment. (Diagram 72)

S
 

An umbrella or wing defense is diagrammed below. It has two pass defenders in the secondary to cover the three pass zones and allows nine men up front. The only difference is that cornermen, or wings, are approximately 31/2 to 41/2 yards wide and deep to assist in pass defense coverage. (Diagram 73)

How Diamond defenses are formed

We purchased 22 miniature football players, size 21/2 x 21/2— 11 to represent defense and 11 to represent offense. The defensive players are formed in a defensive stance so that a young quarterback can better visualize the over-all alignments. Teach your new quarterback that all defenses are formed from an even or an odd spacing. By way of illustration, from a regular six-man alignment what might occur: (Diagram 74)

Regular 6

Place the linebackers over the offensive ends so that all offensive men are covered and an eight-man line is formed as below:

(2) Allow the left side to remain in a tight six, and move the right tackle over the offensive end forming a loose six on the right and a tight six on the left side as below:
 
Tight and loose six (3)

Eight-man line

(4) Slide all the men into the seams and form a gap or eight seam defense as below:

Seam eight

(5) Have the ends drop off and a six seam defense is formed as below:

Seam six

(6) Have the linebackers and ends both drop off and a four-four defense is formed as below:

V    V               V    V
V     V     V     V
O OOXOO O O
O
DIAGRAM 79

Four-four

(7) In every change of alignment, the three-deep backs have remained in a diamond defense.

How odd defenses are formed

Using the same procedure from the odd five-man line spacing as below:

DIAGRAM 80

Five-man defense

Place both linebackers over the offensive ends and a seven-one defense is formed as below:

Seven-one

Place one linebacker back and allow one to remain on the line of scrimmage and an overshifted six-man line results as below:

Six over

These defenses all have an eight-man front and a three-deep diamond secondary.

How box defenses are formed

If the quarterback understands how diamond defenses are formed, he will quickly learn how box defenses are formed because they are the same except usually one halfback is moved up as a corner man. From the regular six spacing, tighten the ends and place linebackers as cornermen and a six-one umbrella results. Teach the quarterback that in all box defenses, he will encounter a nine-man front.

How tandem defenses are formed

From the regular six alignment, place the linebackers behind the tackles as below:

Tandem six

Drop the ends off behind the tackles and linebackers behind the guard and a tandem four-four results as below:

Tandem four-four

In all of these, the deep secondary has remained constant as a diamond alignment. The quarterback is meeting an eight-man front.

Defenses without middle linebackers

DIAGRAM 89

These defenses are all odd without a middle linebacker. After the quarterback has progressed this far, he should be taught how to recognize them and that they are unorthodox. Do not go into detail on the strengths and weaknesses of them at this time. These three defenses are as follows:

Seven box

Your quarterback must understand and recognize defenses. Even more important, he must know the strengths and weaknesses.

Your quarterback has now completed Step 2 and he should be tested thoroughly in what he has learned before proceeding to the final step. He must understand every detail of how all regular defenses are formed. It is not always necessary that he call out the defense to his teammates, because present day defenses change so often that his call may be of little value and, in turn, inhibit other phases of his generalship and performance. When he faces an unorthodox defense, he should attempt to grind the weakness of the defense or take advantage of a weakness in personnel. This information is generally obtained from scouting reports.

Remember, before your quarterback proceeds to studying the strengths and weaknesses of defenses, he must be able to recognize defenses and know how they are formed.

Quarterback Testing Card

Have your quarterback complete the testing card below. These cards are 8% x 11 and contain three punched holes for insertion into the quarterback's notebook. These cards can be printed or mimeographed. At the top of the card the quarterback identifies the defense and records it on the card. On the left side of the card, the quarterback lists the strengths and on the right, weakness of the defense. Below that he jots in the numbers of the plays from his own offensive that should be effective against the specific defense on the card. Across the bottom of the card is a space for listing any comments relating to the defense. On the right column, have your quarterback list any variations in the defense. For example, gap, overshift, undershift, offset, etc.

DIAGRAM 90

Go over all defenses with your quarterback and have him list the strength and weakness of each. Do not have the testing cards completed for him, but through discussions in meetings and study he himself will complete each defensive card. These are to be inserted in his notebook for personal study. The head coach should examine each testing card before it is finally accepted in content and neatness for the quarterback notebook. Insist upon a neat and exact notebook for your quarterback.

Each card contains only one defense. Have testing cards for the following defenses:

1. Oklahoma defense.
   
   
2. Eagle defense.
   
   
3. Seven-one defense.
   
   
4. Overshifted defense.
   
   
5. Loose six defense.
   
   
6. Tight six defense.
   
   
7. Five-three defense.
   
   
8. Four-four defense.
   
9. Gap defense.
   
   
10. Unorthodox defense.

Step 3-Stkength And Weakness

Next, teach your quarterback these two rules regarding the strength and weakness of defenses:

1. Every defense has a weakness.
   
   
2. If the weakness does not exist where you expect it, then where does the strength come from? Then attack the area that has been weakened.

Have your quarterback review these defense characteristics constantly, until he knows them like his ABC's. This is the final step and the final exam.

Summary

In our opinion, the quarterback who makes the fewest mistakes is the one who will win—providing other things are equal. This commences by first having a clear understanding of defensive alignments so that the offense can be intelligently used, and by avoiding mistakes.

If a quarterback has the proper mental approach regarding his contribution and importance to the team, he can eliminate one vital mistake. A splendid illustration of this occurred after Otto Graham and the Cleveland Browns had defeated the Los Angeles Rams for the Championship in 1955. When friends and teammates congratulated him on his great performance, it was almost as if Graham didn't hear what was being said to him and his replies of "Thanks" were casually tossed. Although Graham had turned in one of the greatest performances of his life, he acted as if he had not contributed anything of particular note.

"I was working with ten other fellows," he said. "They did the job. I was only one of them."

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