Coaches - this is the tutorial you have been waiting for to help your defense rise to a new level.

Covered in this video:

• -6 Fundamentals of a strong defender
• -Player strategy and whiteboarding
• - putting your players in a position to win
• -Top formations and when to use them and so much more!

Transcript:



Hi everyone, Coach D with National Flag Football, and today we're talking about defense. You've been asking all these questions: "Hey, how do I do formations? What are the fundamentals? What should I do to get better on defense here and there? I've got a quarterback running all over the place." Anyway, all those questions and more will be answered right now, right here. So today, we're going to talk fundamentals first. What are the keys to being a good defender? Coach will help you get there.

We're talking about four-year-olds all the way up to 14-15-year-olds, so we got you covered there. Then I'm going to help you strategize with whiteboarding: How do I take my players and put them in different positions to make sure that they are successful out on the field? And then finally, I'll show you some formations that I love for different ages, you know, if I'm doing the four, five, six-year-olds all the way up to the middle schoolers—what is the best formation for different scenarios?

Number one, let's get started with our fundamentals. The number one fundamental I would say is breaking down, making sure that your guys are breaking down. What that looks like is very simply just like this: I am getting big, all right? I'm making sure that I am covering as much space as I possibly can. Now, am I just going to be standing here and doing this and that? No, absolutely not. What I want to do is I want to learn to shuffle left and right, so I might shuffle this way, I might shuffle. Now, some people want to start running left and right.

Coach, you got to make sure that they're shuffling. So, what does a shuffle look like? I'm going to shuffle right. I'm not crossing my feet over; I'm keeping a nice wide stance, and I am shuffling left and right. Or I might shuffle up, I might shuffle back, but either way, I am shuffling. Now, another thing is I want to make sure I'm not watching their eyes. I'm not watching their shoulders. I'm watching their hips and their belly button, right? A lot of times, you have this little buckle right here. Keep the eyes on the belly button, simple, so that I am always squared up with my running back or with my wide receiver, right? I am looking at them because they made you. If I do one of these, you're gone. You're going this way, I'm going that way. But if you're watching my hips, this area right here, you're gonna stay right in front of me. So always make sure that you're right in front.

The number one tip on defense I have is to grab the flag at the handle. This is number one throughout all of the videos I've ever done, all the coaching. It's right here. I'm not grabbing the flag down here because if I'm running and you're trying to grab my flag, what's happening, right? You're missing, or it slips off. But I dare you to grab it up top. That right there, even if I'm not holding it very strong, I could grab it like this. I can grab it like this; it doesn't matter. I'm grabbing onto the handle. With the momentum of them running, it will come off. So, boom. Boom, that's really stuck in there, but I guarantee you, if you hold on at the top, you'll get it. Cool. Here's another awesome tip that we say over and over and over and over.

If I am on a wide receiver and I am the cornerback, the cornerback is over here, right? And what I want to make sure that does not happen is that a wide receiver gets behind me. I always say, do not let anyone behind you. Don't let them behind you. So if you know it's going to be a running play, I want you to start shuffling back, right? And then turn and run. I have a couple of videos with some drills on that, but you need to make sure that nobody gets behind you. Nobody gets behind you, period. You do not let anybody behind you because what happens? They go over the shoulder, that's an easy touchdown.

So, a couple of fundamentals: I'm getting big, I'm staying low, right? I'm shuffling left and right, trying to square up with that running back, and I am grabbing the flags at the handle. And a lot of times, I'll grab both. Why am I trying to just grab one? Why not square up and grab both, right from the handle? And then again, don't let anybody behind you.

So those are the fundamentals to start off with. Now, coach, let's talk strategy. So, here is a sample of what a defense can look like. It might seem complicated, but it's very simple. Here's the ball down here. Anybody that is down here next to the ball, one to two yards off, I want these to be my flag pullers, like they are monster flag pullers. All my drills, they're the ones who are always getting the flags. So I might have one—so this is called the Husker, right? This is just a sample formation.

So I have Noah and Sammy, who are excellent flag grabbers. And you'll see an "A" and my "B," right? So it's a rotation. That's it. So maybe, first half, "A" is on offense, "B" is on defense, and then you switch. So you just want to make sure that everybody is covered, right? And then I'm putting people where they are strongest. These people on my older leagues, who can rush the quarterback, I'm putting those speedsters out here on the edges. So this is seven yards off the ball, which in National Flag Football, we need to be seven yards off, right?

And so, James Cason might be number two. And what I've done in the back here is I've got a blitz color, right? So if it's red, then two is going. So if I go "Husker red, red, red," then number two is going to be rushing that quarterback. You know, I don't want always the same person rushing because then the quarterback knows, right? So just mix it up. I might have somebody in the middle that is very agile and flexible, who can go with anyone. This is usually great for a throw-heavy team, right? They love to throw it. This is going to be a zone. So I've got this person has this entire zone, this one has this zone, and if four is rushing, then five moves over, right? And then I've got my monster safety in the back who is the speedster who can go all over the field and has excellent hands. So this is a nice little outline of what a defense could be. Just giving you a second on that. Cool.

So the fundamentals on that is I want to make sure that the people that are the best are in the best position to win, right? If I've got the player that's not the fastest, then I'll probably keep them right in the front, one yard off of that ball, and they're the flag grabbers, right? And then my speedsters I'm going to keep in the back. So for my brand new teams, right? My four, five, six, seven-year-olds, this is what I've done. This is basically the line, okay? So I have my football here, right? And then I've got two linebackers here, I've got my cornerbacks here, and most of the time, this is great for a running offense, right? So my offense is running all over the place. I want to make sure that nobody is getting past this, okay? So this is great for my young team. And then I've got my safety, I also call it my monster, out there in the back. That's the one who can—if they get past, if a running back gets past my first line, this one is the speedster who can catch them and has great hands just in case they throw it.

Now, let's talk. If, let's say, I've got third graders, maybe second, third, fourth, fifth, even up to middle school, I might use this formation where I've got now a cornerback on both sides. So I've got my two-three. So I've got two up front guarding the run, making sure that my running back doesn't get past. And then I've got my coverage in the back. Again, this is for any time you have a somewhat throw-heavy offense, okay?

Now, the person in the middle is usually going to be covering the entire field. Or, if, let's say, this guy is going to be rushing—don't pick it up—this one's rushing, coming out to the quarterback, and I have my safety to slide over. Now, most of the time, we do zone defense in flag football. But if you are going to do man-to-man, one very important key is for everyone to decide before they go into their huddle, before the offense goes into their huddle, "Who do I have?" You own that person. You say it out loud: "I've got this one, I've got," right? "I've got wide receiver here, I've got hat, I've got hat," so that you're calling it out. But most of the time, a zone defense works extremely well, especially when you're first getting started as a coach.

And then, if I have a run—let's say, 60% of the time, they're running—then I might do my two-three. So, 60% of the time, they're running, so that I've got a nice good coverage along my front line, right? I've got three linebackers who are ready to get those trick plays, right? And they're always watching the ball, right? Always watch the ball because they could do so many trick plays, and I might run over here, and they're gone, or they're throwing it. So always watch the ball. But the 3-2 is great for if they're about 60% run.

Now, I'll share some others with you over time, but those are some basic fundamentals of how to get your defense on point. If I have a running, right? If I have a running quarterback—the quarterback is allowed to run, or all they do all the time is just hand it off, some trick play, and it looks like the running back or the quarterback is going to be running often—then I would not blitz heavy. I would not blitz heavy, right? I wouldn't be sending two blitzers. I would maybe do one blitzer. And then, as I'm running over this side, I'm gonna have my blitzer blitz on their non-dominant hand.

I'll share some of this in the comments, but there are some strategies as we get to that next level to help you out. But I think, for now, for our younger kids all the way up to middle school, these basic fundamentals can absolutely work. The last thing I'm going to share—this is a great little tip that I'm now using all the time—is I want a bum rush to the ball as soon as the person who has the ball passes the line of scrimmage. So let me show you how that works.

I'm a running back. I get the ball, and I'm headed over here. This person, this person yells out, "Ball, ball, ball!" When they scream out, "Ball, ball, ball," I want everybody to rush over, okay? Now, this person right here, I don't want them to just run at this angle, right? I want them to make sure that they're running to where the person's going to be. So they're running over this way diagonally so that they're not right. So if I'm a running back, and I'm running this way, I don't want to come at the person this way where they are, right? I want to go where they're going to be, so I want to catch them like this.

But if I'm screaming, "Ball, ball, ball," I know as the defender, instead of chasing my wide receiver, now that they've crossed the line of scrimmage, I'm on my way, so that everybody bum rushes that ball. We are all headed toward the ball because we're all a unit. Otherwise, here's what happens: everybody stays in their position, and as a running back, I'm just gonna cut up the field. I'll go this way, there's only one defender here, I'll cut this way, I break this defender—gone. But if everybody's all around, and we're all bum rushing that ball, they can't get past us.

So, a nice little overview real quick. Break down, get big, shuffle side to side or up and down, right, north-south. Boom. I'm big. I'm always watching right here. I'm watching that belly no matter what happens, no matter what the eyes are doing, I'm watching right here. And I'm always pulling from the handle right here. I never let anybody behind me, and I always bum rush that ball. "Ball, ball, ball!" We all go toward it. Coaches, put your players in their best position to win.

My hungry, my flag grabbers go right about a yard off. Boom, they always get that flag. They stay up here. The ones that are super speed and have great, great hands, they go in the back. And then my fastest, my fastest who are just like, they're great with flags, but they are super speed—those are my rushers that usually go on the outside, and they're coming in, okay?

And then finally, try some of these. If I'm young, if I've got my 90%, 80% running team, I'm gonna stack the line right here with a monster in the back. If I've got maybe about 40% run, 60% pass, I'm going to switch it up with a 2-3 defense. If I've got about a 60-40, 60% of the time they're running, I'm gonna do what I have here, where I've stacked it with three, and then I've got two in the back.

So, I hope this helps out. This is defense 101. This will help you get those—I mean, shut them down, shut down that offense because the defense wins champions. Come on, man, that's how we win our championship! No, hey, we're all out here having fun. It is freezing cold, so I'm going to get back inside, but I hope this helps. Remember, if you like what you see, come on now—subscribe, share it, like it, comment, and let's build this thing together. We'll see you out there. Good luck this season and every season. This is Coach D signing off.