Coaching 335 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Presented by Football-Defense.com
By Joe Daniel
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Coaching Football's 3-3-5 Defense

By Joe Daniel
Copyright 2013 Football-Defense.com. LLC
Please do not copy or distribute this eBook without the written consent of the author. This eBook is available exclusively from Football-Defense.com and approved associates.
Disclaimer: The author makes no claims to being an expert on the material contained within this eBook. There is no guarantee on the quality or validity of the information contained within. This information is the opinion of one coach, based on research and experience only.
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Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1 WHY THE 3-3-5 DEFENSE? ............................................................................................................. 5 THE SPREAD OFFENSE CHANGES THE GAME ................................................................................................................5 GOOD DEFENSE HAS NOT CHANGED! ........................................................................................................................6 WHY THE 3-3-5 DEFENSE?......................................................................................................................................7 WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THIS BOOK..........................................................................................................................8 CHAPTER 2 BASE ALIGNMENT IN THE 3-3-5 DEFENSE ................................................................................... 10 The Defensive Line .....................................................................................................................................10 Alignment for the Inside Linebackers ........................................................................................................11 Secondary Alignment.................................................................................................................................12 PUTTING PLAYERS IN THE RIGHT POSITION ................................................................................................................13 CHAPTER 3 DEFENSIVE LINE MOVEMENT ...................................................................................................... 24 4 BASIC DEFENSIVE LINE STUNTS ............................................................................................................................25 Base Stunt ..................................................................................................................................................25 Pinch Stunt.................................................................................................................................................27 Strong and Weak Slant ..............................................................................................................................29 TEACHING DEFENSIVE LINE MOVEMENTS .................................................................................................................31 Defensive Line Stance ................................................................................................................................31 Outside Slant Technique ............................................................................................................................32 Inside Slant Technique ...............................................................................................................................35 Crush Technique ........................................................................................................................................38 CHAPTER 4 INSIDE LINEBACKERS IN THE 3-3-5 DEFENSE................................................................................ 41 LINEBACKER STANCE .............................................................................................................................................41 Prowling Linebackers .................................................................................................................................43
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Linebacker Gap Responsibilities ................................................................................................................44 LINEBACKER BLITZ TECHNIQUE ...............................................................................................................................46 Run Blitz .....................................................................................................................................................47 PASS BLITZ TECHNIQUE .........................................................................................................................................49 INSIDE LINEBACKER KEYS AND READS .......................................................................................................................50 SINGLE LINEBACKER BLITZ......................................................................................................................................54 CHAPTER 5 OVERHANG SAFETIES IN THE 3-3-5 DEFENSE ............................................................................... 59 Overhang Safety Stance ............................................................................................................................60 Keys and Reads for the Overhang Safety...................................................................................................61 Overhang Safety Blitzes .............................................................................................................................68 CHAPTER 6 BASE COVERAGE: PATTERN READING COVER 3 ........................................................................... 74 Spot Dropping Cover 3 Coverage ...............................................................................................................75 Pattern Reading Cover 3 Coverage ............................................................................................................79 Examples of Pattern Reading Cover 3 versus Route Combinations ...........................................................88 Pattern Reading Cover 3 against Doubles Formations ..............................................................................96 Pattern Reading Cover 3 against Trips Formations ...................................................................................97 CHAPTER 7 MAN COVERAGES AND BLITZES ................................................................................................ 100 Cover 1 Coverage .....................................................................................................................................100 Cover 0 Blitzes in the 3-3-5 Defense ........................................................................................................105 CHAPTER 8 INSTALLING ZONE BLITZES ........................................................................................................ 110 Installing Fire Zone Coverage with Pattern Reading Principles ...............................................................111 CHAPTER 9 FINAL THOUGHTS AND RESOURCES ON THE 3-3-5 DEFENSE ..................................................... 116 Play Calling Philosophy ............................................................................................................................117 Resources for Defensive Football Coaches ..............................................................................................118
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CHAPTER 1
Why the 3-3-5 Defense?

Many coaches today try to over-complicate the game of football. Football is still a game of blocking and tackling. Coaching a great defense means having plenty of speed on the field, to get to the ball carrier faster. And the more speed we can get there, the better a chance we have of tackling him.
The Spread Offense Changes the Game

In the last decade, we have seen the Spread Offense come to dominate the football landscape. From Youth Football, to High School and College, and even into the NFL, the Spread Offense has spread like wildfire. Offensive Coordinators are looking for ways to get the ball into the hands of faster players, with more space around them. This forces Defensive Coordinators to adjust. Once upon a time, coaching defense was about having eight or nine players within 5 yards of the Line of Scrimmage. We were defending downhill running games week after week, and needed plenty of size up front to do it. Today, we have to be able to defend 53.3 yards of football field on every snap. We need players who can not only stuff the downhill running game, but also run Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 5

from sideline to sideline. They must be able to defend the deep pass, and chase down receivers catching Bubble Screens. Defense is much more complicated than it used to be.
Good Defense Has Not Changed!

The truth, however, is that coaching good defensive football has not changed. Size and speed are not the determining factors of coaching good defensive football. Coaching is about putting your players in the right places to succeed. And for that, coaching football defense has not changed. In fact, the only aspect of defense that has changed is where the right place is. It is no longer a 6-2 Defense, packing the box with beefy brutes. The trend today is to move most of your bigger players, who were once considered to be gap plugging Defensive Tackles, over to the Offensive Line. We have no room on the defense for the huge, plodding Defensive Linemen of the past. Today, we are more focused on maximizing speed in on our defense, not size. We have replaced our slower Defensive Linemen with Linebackers. We bump the Safeties down to Linebacker. We move Cornerbacks to Safety, and we bring in more speed at Cornerback. Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 6

Winning defensive football today is about maximizing speed on the field, first. Then we simply need to put them in the right places, and teach them how to find the football and tackle the ball carrier.
Why the 3-3-5 Defense?

That brings us to the original question. Why should you run the 3-3-5 Defense? If good defense has not really changed, why are we abandoning tried and true defensive fronts like the 5-2 Defense or the 4-4 Defense? We are not abandoning their principles, just the numbers that are attached to them. We call this defense the 3-3-5 Defense because we will feature players that, physically, match the traditional characteristics of three Defensive Linemen, three Linebackers, and five Defensive Backs. The basic structure and philosophy of the defense is the same as a 5-3 Defense or a 3-5-3 Defense. The 3-3-5 Defense is just a label for a greater defensive philosophy. What we will do is maximize speed on the field, so that we can defend every blade of grass on the field. The 3-3-5 Defense features an attacking philosophy, rather than a bend but dont break approach to football that is common with many defenses. We want to Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 7

dictate to the offense, and force their hand. We will keep our terminology, technique and scheme simple for our players, while appearing complex to the opponent. Coaching the 3-3-5 Defense will give you the ability to put the fastest players on the field, and create a sense of organized chaos on the field. At the same time, your players will be confident in the system and in their own abilities. Always remember that confused players play slow, and confident players play fast. That is the base philosophy of the 3-3-5 Defense, and why it can be a great fit for your football team at any level.
What to Expect From This Book

Football really is a simple game. But it is not easy. In Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense, we will talk about how to maximize speed on the field. We will then focus on using sound defensive fronts and alignments that put players in the best position to succeed. Once we have the right players on the field, and have put them in the right place, its time for coaching defense to become fun. We will learn the best reads and keys for players to know where the ball is going, and how to get there quickly. Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 8

We will install multiple coverages that keep the offense guessing, while making sure your players avoid confusion and continue to play fast. Finally, we will look at installing an attacking blitz package that is sure to keep the offense on their toes. By using a simple system of tags and calls, your defensive players can learn a complex blitz package with limitless possibilities, in a very short time. Now lets get to work!
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Base Alignment in the 3-3-5 Defense

The 3-3-5 Defense uses a base alignment that is effective against any style of offense. It is easily adaptable to multiple offensive schemes because of the simplistic rules for where players will be. The Defensive Line The three Defensive Linemen will play in head-up techniques. Using our alignment numbering, the Defensive Ends will align head up on the Offensive Tackles in a 4-Technique. The Nose Guard, one of the most important positions on the defense will align in a 0-Technique, head up on the Center.
Chapter 2
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Figure 1: 3-3-5 Defense, Base Alignment
Because all three Defensive Linemen are playing head-up, they are interchangeable along the defensive front. Different characteristics are more desirable for each position, but they will have the understanding and ability to play any of the positions across the front. Alignment for the Inside Linebackers The three Linebackers play in a stacked alignment, directly behind each of the Defensive Linemen. We do not flip the Inside Linebackers, instead preferring to have one player exclusively play the right side, and another exclusively play the left side. The Ram Linebacker is stacked directly behind the Right End, in a 40Technique. The Lion Linebacker is stacked directly behind the Left End, also in a Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 11

40-Technique. Stacked behind the Nose Guard, the Mike Linebacker plays in a 00Technique and is considered by many to be the most important player on the defense. Secondary Alignment The alignment of the secondary will be dependent on the coverage called. We use a Cover 3 coverage as the base coverage. In Cover 3, the Strong Safety aligns 3 yards outside of the End Man on the Line of Scrimmage, and 3 yards off the line if there is one receiver removed. The Weak Safety follows the same alignment rules, away from the strength call. How to determine strength will be addressed in a later section. The Strong Safety and Weak Safety are the only players who need to switch sides based on formation strength, and even this can be avoided if your players have very similar characteristics. While the depth of the corners and whether they are inside or outside shade will be determined by coverage, they will almost always be aligned over top of the #1 Receiver, or the receiver closest to the sideline. In our Cover 3 base, they are 7 to 9 yards off the #1 Receiver, and 1 yard inside of him.
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The Free Safety will shade to the wide side of the field. His rule on Cover 3 or Cover 1 coverage is to line up at 10 to 12 yards depth, at the midpoint between the two widest receivers to either side. We will spend more time focusing on coverage in later chapters.
Putting Players in the Right Position

Being a great coach means knowing a lot more than simple Xs and Os. Besides having a great scheme, you are also going to need to be able to game plan from week to week, and make adjustments during the game. Your success as a coach is also dependent on communicating your vision of the defense to your players. But none of this matters, if you do not have the right players in the right positions. Making a proper evaluation of your team, and putting the right pieces in the right spots on your defense will be crucial to having a great football defense. When coaching the 3-3-5 Defense, you need to know where to put your best athlete, your most coachable players, and how to maximize the talent that you have. Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 13

While most Youth, High School and small College coaches will not have the perfect athlete for each position, we have to know what makes the ideal player for each position. Then you can plug in the players where their skills are best suited.
Nose Guard
Your first line of defense in the 3-3-5 Defense is your Nose Guard. He is the closest player to the football on any snap. While the 3-3-5 is known as a defense that does not require any big defensive linemen, this is where you will put him if you do have one. As is the case with any Odd Front defense, you have two options for your ideal Nose Guard. If you have a powerful, true defensive lineman, you would want to put him here. We want to have a player that can control the Center, and even play a 2-Gap technique (handling both A-Gaps) if we desire. The ideal Nose Guard for that job is big and strong, but quick with his hands and feet. He is a solid tackler. With the popularity of shot gun offenses, a strong Nose Guard can sometimes even cause bad snaps out of the Center. If you do not have a great Defensive Lineman for this position, you can still run the defense. You want to use a player that is smaller and quicker, rather than one Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 14

who is larger and slower. With no prototypical Defensive Lineman in your program, look for a player who is a wrestler-type kid. This player should be able to slant quickly in either direction. He has control of his body and has the ability to stay low through the line. Leg strength is vital, as a good Nose Guard will often attract double teams. Whichever style of Nose Guard you choose, remember that quickness is more desirable than size. This is not a defense where a gap plugger is desirable. We are looking to create chaos by maximizing speed on the field, and the Nose Guard position is no different.
Defensive Ends
Filling out the Defensive Line are our two Defensive Ends. They are very similar players, and we do not want to have to flip them. In fact, the ideal situation is to have several players who can rotate through at your Defensive End spots, keeping fresh and fast bodies on the field at all times. This is especially important if your Defensive Ends are also going to be playing on Offense. At the End positions, you want to use fast players, but players who still have some size and power. They should be able to handle down blocks by the Offensive
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Line without getting washed out of the play. Their quickness on slants is also a great asset. Once again, on the Defensive Line, size is not the gold standard as it is in other defensive fronts. Quickness and explosive power are more desirable. Defensive Ends should be able to use their leg strength to drive through blocks and attack trappers. The Ends will also need quick hands for pass rush situations, where they have to be able to change directions and knock the larger Offensive Linemans hands off of them to get pressure on the Quarterback. If you have one Defensive End who is significantly better, be sure to play him at the Left End. This puts him on the Offenses right side. Most Offensive Coordinators are right handed, and tend to run more plays to the right than to the left.
Mike Linebacker
The Middle Linebacker, which we call the Mike Linebacker, will be your best traditional Linebacker. Our Mike is aligned directly behind the Nose at 5 yards off the Line of Scrimmage (LOS). The Mike Linebackers primary job will be as a run
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stopper. He needs to be able to take on and defeat blocks by Offensive Linemen, as well as attack isolation blocks by a Fullback. The Mike Linebacker should be the best instinctive Linebacker on your team. Ideally, we would not be blitzing the Mike very often. Instead, he is able to read his keys and diagnose the play quickly. On run plays he is able to get downhill and attack the ball carrier, looking almost as if he were blitzing in the eyes of the opponent. Speed is not the top asset of the Mike Linebacker. Toughness, ability to take on and defeat a block, quick reaction time, and tackling ability are all more important here than having a fast 40-yard dash time. This position may be the most physically demanding of any spot on in the 3-3-5 Defense.
Ram and Lion Backers
You can decide to play with a Right and Left Linebacker, or you may want to flop the two backers by strength or field. We have found that the two players at these positions are rarely unique enough to merit flipping them. Instead, we will play with a Ram Backer stacked behind the Right End and a Lion Backer stacked behind the Left End.
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The Ram and Lion Linebacker should be able to cover enough ground that if we blitz an Overhang Safety, they will be able to run to the flats for pass coverage responsibility. At the same time, they are also subject to downhill running plays like the Inside Zone, Power and Counter. While these guys are lighter and faster than a typical Inside Linebacker, they still have to possess strength, ability to defeat blocks, and be good tacklers. For most 3-3-5 Defense Coaches, the Ram and Lion Linebackers will be used to blitz more than any other position on the Defense. We can use them to create fronts with our stunts and blitz schemes. They may lack some of the instinctive ability or key reading that the Mike Linebacker lacks, but they can make up for the deficiency by learning good blitz technique and making big plays in the backfield.
Overhang Safeties
The Strong Safety and Weak Safety on the defense have slightly different jobs, but you may want to use interchangeable players in the same way we did at the Liz and Rip. That will all depend on the coverage packages you decide to implement with your defense. If you are going to run a simple Spot Drop Cover 3 concept behind your 3-3-5 Defense, you can use similar players. However, if you
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will be implementing more complex Pattern Read Cover 3 or even 2-high safety coverages, you will need to select your Strong Safety and Weak Safety carefully. These players have the toughest position on your defense in terms of reads and keys. These are the players that the Offensive Coordinator will be looking to pick on. They are most likely to be put in conflict because of their dual responsibility to defending the run and the pass. The Overhang Safety positions are the place to put your best all around athletes. They need to be able to read their keys, have some instinctive ability, and react quickly as the play develops. Ability to recover if they make an early mistake will certainly make for an ideal trait. The Strong Safety should be the bigger, more physical of the two players. He is more like a Linebacker than the Weak Safety is. The Weak Safety will have to run with a slot receiver against vertical concepts in Cover 3. He will most likely be the player that you roll back for 2-high coverages like Quarters. He needs to have more athleticism than the Strong Safety, but his tackling and ability to defeat blocks may not be as good.
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If you intend to use any Man Coverage packages, you should expect the Strong Safety and the Weak Safety to be involved in 1 on 1 match-ups with slot receivers at times. We will usually play them from an Off-man position, so that they have a cushion to work with. But if your Overhang Safeties can cover slot receivers man to man, you can greatly expand your package for both coverages and blitzes.The Free Safety We have some options at the Free Safety position. Your choice will be dictated by your coverage package and your own personality. If you decide to use a single high coverage like Cover 3 or Cover 1, you can use a very aggressive Free Safety, or a center fielder. Aggressive coaches may want a Free Safety who is going to be extremely involved in the run game. He is asked to come downhill fast on run keys, and react late to Play Action Pass. He is the 9th man in the box against the run. More conservative coaches may prefer a center fielder who stays back and keeps all of the action in front of him. He is the true safety, always there to make the tackle and let your defense line up against if things go wrong.
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For teams that choose to use Quarters and other 2 High Safety coverages, your Free Safety should be closer in ability to the Weak Safety (we do not cover 2 High Safety coverages in this book). He is willing to get down in the box and play the run, make tackles, and mix it up. But he also has the speed and hip flexibility to get into coverage and stay over top of deep receiver routes. There is no right or wrong way, but I prefer to have an aggressive Free Safety that can make big plays in the run game. We have to accept that there will be times when the Free Safety cannot be in position for deep passes. There is a greater risk to the more aggressive style of play.
Cornerbacks
The corners do not have to be the fastest players on the team. They do not have to be the tallest or the strongest, or the best athletes. But the corners do need to have the ability to focus, learn from mistakes, and clear their heads. If our corner is mismatched by speed, we help him by adjusting his alignment. As long as he has adequate tackling ability, he can come up to make tackles on shorter passes. But we do not want the corners to lose focus when they only see 2 or 3 balls thrown at them in a game. Those few plays cannot be disastrous for our team! Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 21

Corners have to understand that at times in our coverages, they will be put on an island in a one on one match-up. We want players who will welcome the challenge, but also understand that they may not always win the battle. As long as they can learn from their mistakes, clear their heads, and go back out on the next play, they have the ability to play this position. Cornerbacks do need to have looser hips than Safeties. This means that they can change directions more readily. Corners are more likely to see double move routes like hitch and gos, sluggos and post-corner routes. As long as they can keep their leverage on the receiver and trust their eyes, most corners can learn to play these routes. A Final Word on Personnel You probably do not have the ideal player for every position on this defense. Most of us dont, and the ones who do really do not need any help. These position descriptions are only meant to serve as a guideline. At all but the highest levels of football, coaching defense is about getting your 11 best players on the field. From there, your job is to put them in the positions they can play that make your team the best it can possibly be.
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Do not get hung up in player descriptions. Most of what your defenders need will have to be taught in Individual Drills. They need to learn to defeat blocks, and to tackle. Players have to learn their reads and keys and review them daily, until they become habit. Get the best 11 players on the field, get them in the best spots for them, and then work to give them all of the tools they need for game day.
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Defensive Line Movement

A big part of the 3-3-5 Defense is the Defensive Line movement you will use to disguise your defense. By using a head up alignment, you give the Offensive Linemen only a 50% chance of guessing where your defenders will be going on the snap.
CHAPTER 3
One of the most important principles in our defense is keeping the plays simple for our Defensive Line. We want to take the thinking out of the game for them. Defensive Linemen are in a collision on every snap of the ball. Often for High School and Youth players, they will also be on the Offensive Line. They do not need to have the added pressure of doing a lot of thinking.
Our entire Base Defense uses only 4 Defensive Line stunts. These calls are very easy for the Defensive Linemen to learn, and they do not change throughout the year.
We also expect the Linebackers to communicate with the Defensive Linemen, particularly when they are blitzing. This cuts down on the possibility of two players running into the same gap. As long as the Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 24

Defensive Lineman and the stacked Linebacker do not rush into the same gap, our defense will still be sound.
4 Basic Defensive Line Stunts

The entire foundation of the 3-3-5 Defense is built on 4 Defensive Line stunts. It is very simple to install the stunts and teach the players where to go. The majority of the Defensive Lines individual time will be spent on how to stunt and how to react to the movement of the Offensive Line. Base Stunt If we do not call any stunt, our players will always run the Base stunt. If we are not blitzing any linebackers, our play call may be simply Base 3, which is a base stunt for the defensive line and Cover 3 coverage. The Base stunt tells our Defensive Ends to use an outside slant. They will attack the outside shoulder of the Offensive Tackle they are lined up over. They want to gain control of the C Gap by getting their hips in the gap. If the Tackle attempts to hook the End, he should fight to keep his hips in the C Gap, while using a push-pull technique to control the Tackle. This technique will be discussed later in this chapter. Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 25
Figure 2: Base 3
If the Tackle down blocks, the Defensive End will react by latching on to the Tackle, getting his eyes inside, and looking for a pull or kick-out block. He will wrong arm any puller or kick-out block. In the Base stunt, the Nose Guard will always go in the direction of the strength call. He attacks the strong shoulder of the Center. Strength is based on the call made by the Linebacker. The Defensive Linemen should never try to determine strength, but instead trust the call of the Linebackers. The Nose Guard attempts to control the strong A Gap, in the same manner the Defensive End uses to control C Gap on an outside slant. He will attempt to defeat reach blocks by keeping his hips in the gap and using a push-pull technique. If the Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 26

Center down blocks, he should expect pressure from his outside and fight back against it. You may wish to change the direction of the Nose Guard slant based on game plan, or let the Nose Guard use a Crush Technique, discussed later in this chapter. Pinch Stunt The second stunt in our base package is the Pinch Stunt. This tells the Defensive Ends to use an inside slant. The Nose Guard will still slant to the strong side of the Center, just as he did in Base. Our call now includes the slant, so it would be Base Pinch 3.
Figure 2: Base Pinch 3
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The inside slant uses a different technique than the outside slant. We are attempting to spill the football, forcing it to continue East and West and making it difficult for the Offensive to move the ball North and South. To do this, we have to always attack the inside half of the gap. On an inside slant, the Defensive Ends are responsible for B Gap. To get to the inside half of the B Gap, they need to slant hard to the Offensive Guard. We use the aiming point of attacking the near knee of the Offensive Guard. This aiming point serves two purposes. It gives them a lower aiming point, to keep their pad level down on the slant. It also gets them attacking hard to the inside half of the B Gap. The Defensive End reads the near knee as he is attacking to it. If the knee comes to him, he will attack the blocker with his hands and try to drive him back, while keeping his hips in B Gap. If the near knee of the Guard goes away from him, the Defensive End will chase down the Line of Scrimmage, treating the play as if it were run away from him. He is also looking for a puller or kick-out block coming his way. He will wrong arm any trap block.
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The Nose Guard uses the same technique on Pinch as he did in Base. You can also change to a weak slant, or use the crush technique. This depends on game plan and ability of your Nose Guard. Strong and Weak Slant The final two stunts are based on the strength call by the Linebackers. We can either use a Strong Slant or a Weak Slant to attack the Offensive based on tendencies, or based on the blitzes we use behind the stunts. A Strong Slant tells all three Defensive Linemen to slant in the direction of the strength call. They base the direction on the call of the Linebacker, and should not try to determine strength on their own. It is important that they go the correct direction, so that we do not have two defenders in the same gap. Our call would be Base Strong 3.
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Figure 4: Base Strong 3
We have had our Linebackers tap the Defensive Linemen to tell them the direction of the slant, if they are having trouble getting the call. It is not ideal because the Offensive Linemen do pick up on the signals, but it is better than the alternative of having two players defending the same gap! A Weak Slant tells all three Defensive Linemen to slant opposite the direction of the strength call. This is the only stunt in our base package where the Nose Guard does not go in the direction of the strength call. Our call here would be Base Weak 3.
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Figure 5: Base Weak 3
Teaching Defensive Line Movements

While the 4 basic stunts are very easy to install and minimize the thinking for the Defensive Line during the game, the position is not an easy one to play. The technique used for our base stunts has to be worked daily. It must become an automatic reaction for each of our Defensive Linemen. Defensive Line Stance For our Defensive Linemen to disguise the direction of their slant, they should have a balanced stance. Their feet are even, and are slightly wider than shoulder width. They should not get any wider than this or they will not be able to gain enough ground on their initial step.
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The Defensive Linemen need to have a good bend in their ankles, knees and hips to create a Z shape in their legs. This is the power position they must have in order to attack and control Offensive Linemen. His back should be flat, with his neck bowed so that he can view his strike point through his eyebrows. The Strike Point will depend on the slant technique being used. Either hand can be placed down. Our defensive linemen put more weight on their hand than an Offensive Lineman. They know where they are going so, they should have their weight distributed evenly between the hand and feet. His weight in his feet is mostly on the balls of the feet, though the heels should not be high. They will still be slightly in contact with the tips of the blades of grass. Stress a balanced stance to your defensive linemen. They need to be comfortable moving in either direction, and not give away the slant to their Offensive opponents. Outside Slant Technique The Outside Slant technique puts us in a position similar to where a shaded lineman in an Even Front would be aligned. We attack to the outside shoulder, the shoulder farthest from the football, and attempt to control that shoulder and the gap next to it. Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 32

Defensive Ends use an Outside Slant technique in Base, and when they are slanting away from the football. Nose Guards use the Outside Slant technique in all base stunts, unless they are using a crush technique. Because this is the technique all three positions use in the Base stunt, it should be taught first. On the snap of the football, the Defensive Lineman will take a short, almost lateral step with his outside foot (or to the slant side, for the Nose Guard). The foot will only step out about 4-6 inches and forward 2-3 inches. This step is designed to gain position the blocker, and build power for the strike. His back should still be flat on the first step, with the eyes up and hands preparing to strike. His second step angles to split the crotch of the blocker. He should be stepping to get his knee inside the knee of the blocker. His hands will now attack the strike point. Strike Point for an outside slant is to strike with the inside hand on the breastplate of the blocker. The outside hand strikes the outside shoulder of the blocker. His hands will frame the armpit of the blocker this is the strike point. On the third step, the defensive lineman fires his hips and attempts to lift up and control his opponent. His outside foot now steps deeper, to the hip level of
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the blocker. This puts the hips of your lineman into his gap responsibility. As long as his hips can stay in the gap, he has control of the gap. Once the defender has control of the gap, he reacts to the blocker. If the Offensive Lineman down blocks to the inside, he will squeeze down with him and look inside to attack any puller or kick-out block. He needs to attack oncoming blockers with his inside shoulder free, crashing into the chest of the man.
Figure 6: Outside Slant, Block Reactions
If the Offensive Lineman tries to reach our defender, he continues to work his hips into the gap, while pulling down with his inside hand and pushing up with his
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outside hand on the shoulder. As soon as he has control of the blocker, he will rip through with his inside hand and take control of the gap by getting past the hip of the blocker. If the Offensive Lineman attacks to base block the defender, he will drive him back and take control of the gap, much as he did with the reach block. He wants to keep his hips in control of the gap, and rip through to the heel line as soon as possible. Inside Slant Technique The Inside Slant technique is used by Defensive Ends when they are executing the Pinch Stunt, or slanting inside toward the football. Our goal is to always control the inside half of the gap. To do this, we have to take a more exaggerated angle on an Inside Slant, attacking to the outside hip of the Offensive Guard. While the strike point on the Guard is the same as where we want to strike an Offensive Tackle on an Outside Slant, his read is different. We use the near knee of the Guard to give the slanting Defensive End an idea of what the Guard will do as he executes his footwork.
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On the snap of the football, the Defensive End steps at a 45 degree angle, toward the near knee of the Guard to his inside. His back stays flat. While this is a longer step than the first step of an Outside Slant, we still do not want to overextend, making him easy to knock over. The first step still only covers 6-8 inches of ground toward the near knee. The second step needs to catch up to the first step and get on the same attack angle. The defender may rise up slightly on the second step, but still should be low to the ground. He cannot show his numbers to the defender yet. We make contact on the third step, which is a step toward the crotch of the Guard, getting our outside knee just outside of his outside knee. On the third step, the defensive lineman hits his strike point, the same way that he attacks on the outside slant. The fourth step will be used to lift and control the blocker. Once engage, the defensive end reacts in the same way he did on the outside slant. The near knee will give him a clue, as well. If the knee comes to him, he can expect to have either a down block, base block or zone block. In any case, he needs to attack and keep his hips in control of B Gap. If the near knee goes away, he should chase to close down the space, knowing that he may have a puller coming his way.
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Figure 7: Inside Slant, Block Reactions
The Guard may also pull to the outside or inside. On a pull to the outside, the Defensive End should plant his inside foot, get to the heel line of the Offensive Linemen, and chase the Guard back to the outside. On a pull inside, he will do the same, getting to the heel line and attempting to chase the puller to the inside. We teach our Defensive Ends to always trust the Guards, because the Running Backs will almost always be running behind them.
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Crush Technique A final technique we use at times is called the Crush Technique. This technique is used with bigger, stronger Nose Guards who can defeat the block of the Center, and almost always demand a double team. We want the Nose Guard to drive the Center back using this technique, helping to cut off pulling Guards. If he is very good, he can lock out the center and play a 2-Gap technique, reading the block of the Center and playing to the side of the play. The crush technique is similar to a bull rush. The Nose Guard will attack with his first step straight ahead, and the second step straight ahead as well. Both are short, 6 inch power steps. On the second step his hands shoot underneath the breastplate of the Center. His third step attacks and lifts the Center up, driving him back into the backfield.
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Figure 8: Base 3, with Nose Guard using Crush Technique
The Nose Guard now tries to lock out the Center and read the play for pullers and down blocks. If he sees a puller trying to clear past the Center, he will shed the center and work to the direction the puller is headed. If he feels a down block from one of the guards, he will shed the center and work to defeat the down blocking guard by driving his hip and shoulder into him, splitting any potential double team. If the Nose Guard reads a pass block by the Center, he will continue to use a bull rush technique, driving him back into the Quarterback. If he feels like he is getting overextended and losing hip drive, the Nose Guard resets by dropping his hips again, then driving up through the Center to continue the rush.
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Crush Technique can be used in any of the base stunts by game plan. Smaller Nose Guards may be able to use a variation in which they crab the center, again making it difficult for pullers to get by. However, they will be sacrificing themselves on the play in most cases.
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Inside Linebackers in the 3-3-5 Defense

The heart of any defense is the Inside Linebackers, and the 3-3-5 Defense is no different. The Inside Linebackers, or Stack Backers, are in charge of all communication for the defensive front. They are ultimately responsible for making sure the alignment is correct, the strength call is made correctly, recognizing tendencies and situations, ensuring the Defensive Linemen know which way to slant, and making the Defensive Linemen right if they are wrong. Your Inside Linebackers will most likely, as a group, lead your team in tackling. The Mike Linebacker, stacked behind the Nose Guard, plays his position slightly different from the play of the Left and Right Inside Linebackers, which we call the Lion and Ram. However, all three backers should be able to play any of the inside backer positions.
CHAPTER 4
Linebacker Stance
Our Inside Linebackers will all use a balanced stance. They are stacked directly behind the Defensive Lineman in front of them, starting with their heels at 5
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yards. We do use some prowling, pre-snap Linebacker movement, but not all the time. He will stand with his feet shoulder width apart, with one foot staggered slightly forward, with the heel even with the instep. We use the staggered stance to eliminate false steps when the Linebackers take their read step. He squats down into a comfortable position, just above a parallel squat. He keeps his chest up at all times with his eyes looking straight ahead. From this point, we want him to roll slightly forward so that about 60% of his weight is on the front half of his foot. His heels are still in contact with the grass. Our Linebackers need to be able to see the snap of the football, the Offensive Guard on their side (or the side of their gap responsibility, for the Mike), and the nearest back in the backfield at all times. On the snap, he takes a short read step forward in the direction of his gap. The linebackers will never go backwards first. We often see linebackers in a much deeper squat in their stance. Its important to note that Linebackers should be able to play the entire game with their hips at the same level. For this to be the case, they have to start in a stance where their hips are not so low that they cant run. If the hips start to low, their first movement will have to be to raise up to a position that they can move from. Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 42

Prowling Linebackers Prowling is a term used to refer to pre-snap movement by the Linebackers. This is a common tactic with 3-3-5 Defenses to add to the disguise and mystery of where the Linebackers will be going. While we do teach prowling, it is important to use it wisely. The added movement can wear your players out throughout the course of a game. Teams that do too much prowling pre-snap will see their Linebackers moving much less after the 1st Quarter. We give our Linebackers a few rules when prowling: 1. Never cross the heel line of the Defensive Line. This goes for any blitz disguise. Linebackers have a greater tendency to jump offsides because they are not used to watching the snap. By staying behind the heel line, they will not get flagged if they flinch on the Quarterbacks cadence. 2. Never go more than one gap away from your responsibility. If a Linebacker will be responsible for B Gap when the ball is snapped, he can never move farther than the near A Gap and C Gap on that side. 3. Do not get caught backing up. Be ready to move forward and take your read step from any position. We teach our players to back up from a Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 43

bluff on their toes, not on their heels, and be ready to react and get going forward again, quickly. 4. Do not prowl constantly. Mix up your movement, just as we mix up blitz disguises. The coaches can instruct for more movement at times and can even use a Prowl tag to get heavy movement from the Linebackers. This is useful in situations where a heavy blitz is likely, but you dont want the Offense to be clued in to where the blitz is coming from. All of the Offensive Linemen will be kept on their toes. Prowling is useful for disguising blitzes and movement, but it is not necessary. Many teams do not use any Linebacker movement, instead choosing to play from the stacked position. Playing from the stack provides just as much mystery as moving pre-snap, though prowling can make young Offensive Linemen more nervous. Linebacker Gap Responsibilities The gap responsibilities for your Linebackers are directly tied to the Defensive Line movement in front of them. Because of this, it is extremely important that your Linebackers know the line movement calls. They should be able to communicate to the Defensive Linemen in case of confusion, as well. Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 44

Ultimately, your Defensive Linemen are always right. The Linebackers make them right, by adjusting to the proper gap based on what the Defensive Linemen do. The Secondary, particularly the Free Safety, makes the Linebackers right as well. In our base front, the Linebackers and Defensive Linemen share the gaps adjacent to their alignment. The Nose Guard is always responsible for one A Gap, and the Mike Linebacker is responsible for the other A Gap. If the Defensive Ends slant outside, they are responsible for the C Gap and the Linebacker stacked behind them handles the B Gap. If the Defensive End has an inside slant, the stacked backer will be responsible for C gap. It is important that Linebackers and Defensive Linemen understand the differences in the gap responsibilities. They should be aware of the different plays attacking them when they are responsible for each gap. Most importantly, they need to be aware of Option responsibilities. B Gap defenders are always responsible for the dive back against the option, while C Gap defenders are responsible for the Quarterback. Lack of understanding of this principle is why Option Offenses can give trouble to the 3-3-5 Defense. As long as your players
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understand this principle, however, the Option should give no issue to your defense.
Figure 9: Linebacker Gap Responsibilities
Linebacker Blitz Technique

Many coaches make the mistake of running blitzing defenses without coaching their players how to blitz. Blitzing is an art, and requires different techniques in Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 46

different situations. It is not uncommon to see untrained blitzers running unblocked into the backfield, right past the play. Run Blitz Our Linebackers must know the difference between run situations and pass situations. At our level, this is based on film breakdown and tendencies. At Freshman, Junior Varsity, and Youth Football levels, this may be based on simple down and distance situations, if more scouting information is not available. On run downs, blitzing Inside Linebackers need to think of themselves as Defensive Linemen. When they blitz, they are still a part of the overall design of the defense, trying to force the ball carrier to run the football to the outside. They are preventing him from running North and South. Run blitzers should attack the outside shoulder of the Offensive Lineman in the gap they are blitzing. For example, if an Outside Linebacker is sent on a blitz to the B Gap, he should be focused on attacking the outside shoulder of the Offensive Guard. For run blitzers, we teach our Linebackers to attack with their inside shoulder to the outside shoulder of the blocker. They will attack and step with their inside
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foot up, splitting the crotch of the blocker. His body must be lower than the body of the blocker. We want to use a big surface, using the shoulder and forearm to drive into the outside half of the pads of the blocker. He drives up and through the defender, trying to take control of the space occupied by the blocker. Immediately after attacking the blocker, the Linebacker wants to get off the block and get to his hip, taking control of the gap. Our Linebackers are taught to react to the block of the offensive lineman just like our defensive linemen are. If the Offensive Lineman blocks down, he should get his eyes inside and look to attack any puller or kick-out block. If the Offensive Lineman pulls, he should chase. If the Offensive Lineman reach blocks or attacks to him, he must attack and keep his hips in control of the gap. Blitzing linebackers on run downs are being used as extra defensive linemen. However, their speed and athleticism allows them more freedom. If Linebackers recognize the direction football, they have more freedom to chase than Defensive Linemen. Their initial movement must always be to take care of their gap responsibility first, though.
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Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense Pass Blitz Technique

Pass blitzing is much simpler than run blitzing. On a passing down, our Linebackers are taught to attack the gap they are responsible for and get skinny. Getting skinny means to turn their shoulder so that Offensive Linemen have a minimal surface to block. He needs to get low enough to be under the pads of the blocker, turn his shoulders, and rip through the gap. It is important to teach pass blitzers to come back to balance after they rip through the gap. If they run through the gap without breaking down and finding the football, you will see a lot of blitzers running past the play or not recognizing what is happening in the backfield. To stress this, we use a Get Skinny drill. We have two players hold bags, while a blitzer attacks to rip through and get skinny. As the blitzer gets to the bags (blockers), he skinnies his shoulders and rips through. As soon as he gets to the heel line of the blockers, he is to break his feet down, and find the ball carrier. A coach simulates the ball carrier by pointing in a direction. The Linebacker breaks down and sprints down the line of scrimmage in the direction the coach points.
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We never want our Linebackers blitzing and running blindly up field. We also never run a blitz assuming a player will be unblocked. Instead, they should always expect to have to defeat at least one block in order to make a play.
Inside Linebacker Keys and Reads

Our Inside Linebackers have to be able to recognize the plays they are seeing quickly and attack downhill aggressively. By making their reads and keys as simple as possible, we can create attacking Linebackers who can make defensive plays. The Inside Linebackers are taught to read the triangle. Their triangle involves seeing the snap of the football, the movement of the Offensive Linemen, and the angle of the Running Backs. The Lion and Ram are more dependent on the Guard Reads than the Mike Linebacker. The Mike Linebacker keys the near back first, with his secondary key being the movement of the Guard to his gap responsibility. This is because he must handle downhill running by the Fullback first. Our first priority is always to force the ball to the outside, and that starts with the Nose Guard and Mike Linebacker.
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The Lion and Ram key the ball movement first, then through the Guards to the nearest Running Back. They will get excellent keys from the Guards on plays where the Guards pull. An example of the Lion and Ram reads and keys versus various plays is shown in figures 10 and 11.
Figure 10: Ram Linebacker reads with Outside Slant versus Power and Iso
Against the Power read, the Ram Linebacker reads a down block by his Guard, and a hard flow to his gap. He then sees the down block by the tackle, telling the Defensive End to close to him. This alerts a gap exchange, in which the Defensive End bends through the B Gap and the Ram Linebacker now takes the C Gap. Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 51

Our Linebackers need to understand the concept of Open Doors and Closed Doors. They cannot be robots attacking a gap. If the gap closes, they should evaluate the play and attack the next open gap. In the Power play, the B Gap closes because of the down block by the Tackle. Therefore, the Linebacker should scrape to the next open gap to the outside, and fit tight to the hip of the Defensive End. This forces the play to spill wider, to the Overhang Safety or another contain player. When the Ram Linebacker gets an Iso Read, he sees a down block by the Offensive Guard and hard flow to his gap. He attacks to the inside half of the gap, causing him to attack the inside half of the Fullback. This helps to spill the play to the outside, where the Defensive End and Overhang Safety are there to contain and destroy the play.
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Figure 11: Ram Linebacker Reads with Outside Slant versus Outside Zone and Counter Reads
Against an Outside Zone, the Ram Linebacker reads a reach block from the Offensive Guard. This tells him the play will go outside. He also gets fast flow outside from the Fullback. He attacks tight to the hip of the Defensive End, forcing the football to run wider. His aiming point is the inside shoulder of the lead blocker (the fullback in this case). The ball should spill to the overhang safety, free safety, or cornerback. A counter read for the Linebacker involves a pull inside by the Offensive Guard. Despite the Fullback driving hard to his side, the Ram Linebacker knows that the football always follows the movement of the Guards. He will find the Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 53

tailback, who counter-steps and takes the handoff in the direction of the Guard pull. The Ram linebacker works inside out, careful not to overrun the ball carrier and allow for an open cutback lane. When the ball carrier declares to the opposite side by attacking into the Line of Scrimmage, the Ram Linebacker is free to attack aggressively and help make the tackle.
Single Linebacker Blitz

Our single Linebacker Blitz calls are very simple. We will rarely use just a line stunt. The majority of defensive calls are going to involve at least one Linebacker blitzing, and this will usually be one of the 3 Inside Linebackers. These players must be very versatile. They are able to blitz on run and pass downs, and play the run and pass from position when not blitzing. For single backer blitzes, we simply call the position name. Base blitzes involve a single Linebacker blitzing the gap opposite of the direction the Defensive Lineman he is stacked behind is going. Communication is important, because we cannot have the Linebacker and Defensive Lineman rushing the same gap that is where the biggest mistakes are made in the 3-3-5 Defense.
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Figure 12: Single Backer Blitzes with Base Stunt
Single backer blitzes are the backbone of your 3-3-5 Defense. Over 60% of the time, we are using single linebacker blitzes to attack the defense. We use single backer blitzes to create common 40 fronts that are effective for stopping a large variety of offenses.
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Figure 13: Single Backer Blitzes with Pinch Stunt
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Figure 14: Single Backer Blitzes with Strong Stunt
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Figure 15: Single Backer Blitzes with Weak Stunt
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Overhang Safeties in the 3-3-5 Defense

The Overhang Safeties, also known as Outside Linebackers, are the most crucial part of the 3-3-5 Defense. They are the contain players in your defense. If your interior 6 players do an excellent job of spilling the play to the outside, your Overhang Safeties are responsible for making the tackle or turning the play back to the inside where they have more help. Many coaches of the 3-3-5 Defense put their best players in the Overhang Safety positions. These are the players that are most likely to be attacked and put into conflict by Offensive Coordinators. They have the crucial role of forcing the play back to the inside against running plays, and playing a key role in pass coverage as well. Offensive Coordinators like to take advantage of the dual role that they have by finding ways to make them wrong no matter what they do. If they are overaggressive on the run, the offense will use Play Action to throw behind them. When the Overhang Safeties start playing soft against the run to protect on the pass, they are sure to see plays run right at them all night long.
CHAPTER 5
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Overhang Safety Stance The stance for our Overhang Safeties will vary based on coverage and alignment within that coverage, but in our base Cover 3 Coverage, we always start with a staggered stance. With only 1 receiver removed in Cover 3 (one receiver not attached to the Line of Scrimmage a Tight End is considered to be attached), the Strong Safety or Weak Safety will be aligned 3 yards off the Line of Scrimmage (LOS) and 3 yards outside of the End Man on the Line of Scrimmage (EMOLS). The EMOLS is his primary key, so he wants to be pointed to see him. He will tilt himself so that his belt buckle is pointed at the outside shoulder of the EMOLS. His feet should be no wider than shoulder width. The inside foot is up and staggered at a heel to toe relationship. He will always read step with his inside foot on movement by the EMOLS (much like the Inside Linebacker read step). While some coaches want to play with the outside foot up, keeping the inside foot up is the best way to protect his outside shoulder. As the force (contain) player in most coverages, one of his biggest rules is to always keep the outside shoulder free. By starting with his outside foot back, he makes that shoulder more difficult to reach. Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 60

The Overhang Safeties should be squatted down to a comfortable depth, about a quarter-squat depth. They should not be squatted so deep that their first move has to be raising their hip level to a position that they can run in. Just like the Inside Linebackers, he should be able to play his entire game at the same hip level. His head is always up and he plays with a big chest. The arms should hang loosely out front. Keys and Reads for the Overhang Safety The Strong Safety or Weak Safety will primary key the EMOLS in Cover 3. We have already discussed his stance and alignment. We will go into more depth when we look at our coverage package as to changes in his alignment, but his primary key will not change in our base Cover 3.
Primary Key Reads
The Overhang Safety keys the EMOLS for a run-pass key, then takes his eyes to his secondary key, the nearest back in the backfield. He gets an indication of the play from his primary key, then he will find the play using his secondary key. The reads off of the primary key are simple. He is looking for a run-pass key in the form a Low Hat or High Hat read. The reads are described here:
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Low Hat Read: The EMOLS fires off the line of scrimmage with a flat back, indicating a run block. Firing off with a flat back means that the level of his helmet does not come up on the snap of the ball, but stays low, as it was in his stance. High Hat Read: The EMOLS raises up to either pass block (Offensive Tackle) or pass release (Tight End). The high hat read means that he raises his level for pass setting or route running, thus bringing his helmet up from the position it was in his stance. This has to become a very fast and instinctive read for the Overhang Safeties, so that they can quickly get their eyes to the secondary key on run reads, or snap their eyes around to a slot receiver on a pass read. They need to be drilled in Hat Reads every day. This can be as simple as having them align at 3x3 off of an Offensive Lineman, representing the EMOLS, who either fires off in a run blocking position or pass sets. You can build on the drill by adding in different reads including reach blocks, various pass sets and play actions, and more. Then we will start drilling the player to get his eyes to the secondary key and start diagnosing the play.
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Reacting to a Run Read
The secondary key for the Overhang Safeties is the nearest back in the backfield. He will only go to the secondary key read if he gets a run read from the primary key. Coverage will dictate his reaction to a pass key, and that will be covered later. When the Overhang Safety reads a low hat from the primary key, he attacks to the line of scrimmage with his inside foot up and his shoulders getting square to the Line of Scrimmage. He wants to attack to a point about 1 yard outside of the EMOLS and no more than 1 yard deep in the backfield, and get his eyes on the secondary key. As the force player, he has to change the direction of the ball carrier if the run is to him. For this reason, we want his shoulders square with his inside foot up to protect his outside arm and leg from being reached. The first rule of being the force player is not allowing yourself to be reached, thus allowing the ball to get to the outside where we have no help. The force player must always force the ball
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carrier to change direction, either bubbling deeper in the backfield in an effort to get around him, or turning back to the inside where we have help. He also needs to be attacking to where the EMOLS is rather than where he was before the snap. If the EMOLS reach blocks to the outside, the Overhang Safety needs to make sure that he widens his path. If the EMOLS down blocks hard, he should be closing down the space and expecting to take on a kick out block with his inside shoulder, then shuffle out to take on the ball carrier when the play is forced wider.
Secondary Key Reads
The Overhang Safety can get any number of reads from the Secondary Key, but he should have an idea of what to expect based on game plan and film study. Although we simplified primary key reads to Low Hat and High Hat, he can get a several different Low Hat reads. By recognizing the block of the EMOLS, he can diagnose the play when combining it with the secondary key read. The secondary key may not always be the back that was aligned closest to the Overhang Safety before the snap, either. It is going to be the man that is closest to him after he reads the primary key.
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Figure 16: Primary and Secondary Key Reads for Strong Safety or Weak Safety
The examples in Figure 16 should give a general idea to how the Overhang Safeties react to a primary run read, but it is impossible to cover all possibilities. The reasoning for the reactions to each play are as follows: 1. Power To: The Strong Safety sees a hard down block low hat key from the EMOLS. He attacks to 1 yard from the EMOLS and 1 yard in the backfield as his eyes pick up the Fullback, who is attacking to kick out Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 65

the Strong Safety. Since he is a force player, our safety attacks to the fullback with his inside shoulder, keeping his shoulders square and protecting his outside arm and leg. He wants to attack tight enough to constrict the C Gap and force the ball carrier to bounce outside. After he has attacked the fullback with his inside shoulder, he squats and shuffles out to help make the tackle. 2. Outside Zone To: The Strong Safety gets a reach block low hat read from the EMOLS. He attacks to the Line of Scrimmage at one yard outside of the EMOLS and one yard deep in the backfield. Remember that he is attacking to where the EMOLS is, not where he was aligned. If he attacks too tightly, he will either get reached by the EMOLS, or allow himself to be reached by the secondary key, the Fullback. The secondary key is attacking to the outside, looking to block the force player (the Safety). He will attack the Fullback with his inside shoulder. If he gets too deep in the backfield, he will create a vertical seam, allowing the ball carrier to easily run underneath. By attacking the blocker closer to the LOS, the ball carrier will not have a vertical seam and the ball either has to turn back to the inside or continue to bounce to the outside.
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3. Zone Read Away: When the Zone Read is run away from the Safety, he is going to be responsible for either the containing the Quarterback, or defending the pitch man on the Zone Read Option. In either case, he cannot allow anyone leaving the backfield to get outside of him. He also does not want to be overaggressive in attacking to the backfield. The Strong Safety knows he can expect the Zone Read when he sees the alignment in the backfield with one back set to his side. He sees the EMOLS zone block inside, giving a low hat read. Then he picks up his secondary key, which is the Quarterback coming out of the mesh and attacking to his side. Note that he could also get a pass read from the secondary key, in the case of Play Action Passing. If he did, he would need to plant immediately and sprint to his pass responsibility. 4. Counter Away: The counter read away is used as an example of what the Overhang Safety should do when the play is run away from him. He sees the pull inside by the EMOLS (this should be an immediate indication of run away, but he may not always be able to clearly distinguish pulls from down blocks). He attacks and reads the secondary key, which is a kickout block by the Fullback. Once he recognizes that the Tailback is running the counter, he should plant and shuffle back to Linebacker depth (5 Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 67

yards) and shuffle inside for cutback. The safeties need to be patient when they are on the back side of the play, checking for cutback until the ball has reached the LOS away from him. We call this a Fold and Fill technique. If he sees the ball cutback, he will fill the first open door he sees. The rule for our force players on runs away from them is to always check for Counter, Bootleg or Reverse (CBR) back to them before they break loose and chase the play down away from them. Patient, disciplined CBR play will help keep your defense from being hit by big counter plays. Careful film study and game plan preparation is very important to making the difficult job of the Overhang Safeties as easy as possible. They are going to be the players most likely to be attacked directly by Offensive Coordinators. They are the players who can be made to look the worst on your entire defense, but if they are good at doing their job they are the players who will make your defense great. We will examine more closely what the Overhang Safeties do on High Hat pass reads in later chapters on coverage. Overhang Safety Blitzes
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Just like our Inside Linebackers, the Overhang Safeties will be used to blitz quite a bit. We can keep our 3 Inside Linebackers in base reads and bring a faster blitzer in an Overhang Safety to get to the Quarterback quickly, give a different look to the Offensive Line, or take advantage of blocking mismatches on Running Backs. The blitz technique for the Overhang Safeties is simple. When blitzing in running situations, they will attack to the LOS on the snap of the ball, as if they knew they were getting a run read. They attack to 1 yard outside of the EMOLS and settle at 1 yard deep in the backfield as they pick up the secondary key. In essence, we are only taking the primary key out of the picture, assuming a Low Hat, and taking the read directly to the secondary key. In passing situations, the blitzing overhang safety will come across the LOS as the contain rusher, attacking to the back shoulder of the Quarterback and preventing him from breaking outside of the pocket. If he is attacked by a Running Back who is pass blocking, he will attack the outside shoulder of the blocker. The pass blitz is much more aggressive than the run blitz, but he cannot be blind. He must keep his head up and diagnose the play on the run at all times.
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Our Overhang Safety blitzes are called Shoot for bringing the Strong Safety only off the edge, or Whip for bringing the Weak Safety only off the edge.
Figure 17: Overhang Safety Blitzes with Base Stunt
Figure 18: Overhang Safety Blitzes with Strong Stunt
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Figure 19: Overhang Safety Blitzes with Weak Stunt
Figure 20: Overhang Safety Blitzes with Pinch Stunt
You should try different blitz combinations and use what works best against the opponents that you play week in and week out. It takes time to experiment with blitzes and stunts to find out what works best in each situation. We like to slant the Defensive Line away from the side we are bringing the Overhang Safety blitz from (ex. Weak Shoot). Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 71

We can tag an X Blitz as well, to tell the blitzer to cross behind the Defensive End and go inside. This can only be used when slanting the Defensive Lineman outside, toward the blitzers alignment.
Figure 21: Overhang Safety Blitzes with X Tag
These blitzes are really a responsibility exchange between the Linebacker and the Overhang Safety, and must be practiced as such. The Lion or Ram now becomes responsible for attacking and forcing a run to the outside. The blitzes are
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excellent for bringing a free rusher to the inside, because at times they do not get picked up. But they have a great deal of risk on runs to the outside. Because of the distance the Overhang Safety has to go to get where he needs to be on these blitzes, they are allowed to do some prowling to get in position. They will also prowl to help decoy and disguise blitzes when they are not actually bringing pressure.
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Base Coverage: Pattern Reading Cover 3

Cover 3 is a natural fit for the 3-3-5 Defense because it is an 8 Man Front. The 4 underneath coverage zones can be covered by 4 Linebackers, while still blitzing one Linebacker on most snaps. Many coaches will also drop all 5 Linebackers to underneath zones in heavy passing situations. The 3 deep zones will be handled by the Cornerbacks and the Free Safety. Their responsibility on pass plays is to allow nothing to get behind them. This is especially true for the Corners, whos responsibility in the run game is limited. We will look closely at each players responsibility on both pass and run in this chapter. There has been some argument about the values of teaching Pattern Reading versus teaching Spot Dropping in a Cover 3 Coverage. While pattern reading does take considerably more time to teach and to rep for your players, it also ensures that your players will not be wasted simply covering grass, or dropping to spaces where no receivers are located.
CHAPTER 6
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Spot Dropping Cover 3 Coverage Spot dropping does hold an advantage over pattern reading in several situations, though. For coaches who have very limited time to work on installing and repping defensive scheme, pattern reading may not be a possibility. If your practice time is limited, you may prefer spot dropping. It is simple to install and easy to continue repping. Other coaches, particularly in Youth Football, may feel that pass coverage is simply not that important. They see a majority of running plays, and therefore need to spend more of their time repping run fits. Coaches of younger players may also find significantly more value in focusing on fundamentals of footwork, block destruction and tackling. For these coaches, a spot drop Cover 3 is an excellent coverage.
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Figure 22: Spot Drop Cover 3 Zones in Base Ram 3 call
Spot Dropping to Underneath Zones
Spot dropping means simply that when each player underneath gets a pass read from their primary key, they immediately open up their hips and sprint to a spot on the field. The flat droppers sprint to a spot 10-12 yards deep and just inside of the numbers (on a regulation High School field). The Hook to Curl droppers drop to a spot 10-12 yards deep and on the hash. If we wanted to drop 5, the fifth dropper would go to the middle of the field at 10-12 yards deep. The rules for who drops to which zone are simple. Of the 5 underneath players, one will be blitzing. The outside player to each side who is not blitzing will have the flat zone. The next player inside of him has the hook-curl zone. We start Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 76

by teaching the coverage zones with the Mike blitzing, which puts the Overhang Safeties on the flat zones and the Lion and Ram on the hook-curl zones. Then we explain the coverage with the Lion or Ram blitzing. The Mike Linebacker replaces the hook-curl zone vacated by the blitzer. The Overhang Safety does not change. The blitzer will always communicate to the players inside of him with an Im Gone! call, letting him know that the zone to his outside is vacated and must be replaced.
Figure 23: Spot Drop Cover 3 Zones in Weak Shoot 3 Call
When we run the Shoot or Whip blitz, the blitzing safety will still be the force player against the run. However, he will communicate the Im Gone! call to the Lion or Ram to his inside. That backer will now be responsible for getting to the Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 77

flat zone drop as quickly as possible on a pass read. This is a long way to go and should be considered when running Shoot and Whip blitzes. In passing situations, you may prefer to bring these blitzes from the short side of the field to minimize the distance traveled. If the Lion or Ram has to cover the flat zone, he also communicates the Im Gone! call to the Mike Linebacker, because he is vacating the hook-curl zone. The Mike Linebacker now handles the hook-curl zone to the blitz side. Communication is a key to running a successful and sound defense, in any scheme.
The Deep Third Zones
The Deep 1/3 defenders are back pedaling or getting depth in their Deep 1/3 zones. The Deep Thirds extend from the deepest part of the underneath zones at 12 yards, all the way to the back of the end zone. The High School hash marks divide the field evenly into thirds. The Cornerbacks have the outside deep 1/3 and the Free Safety has the middle third. They should never let any receiver get behind them. The key reads for the Corners and the Free Safety are nearly the same in Pattern Reading and Spot Dropping. The most significant difference is in the Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 78

underneath zone players. Some coaches also prefer to use a more aggressive Free Safety, while having the corners play even softer in their zones. Alignment for the Corners in the Spot Drop Cover 3 is 7-9 yards deep, inside shade of the #1 Receiver, the receiver closest to the sideline. The Free Safety aligns at 10-14 yards deep and splits the difference between the two widest eligible receivers on the field. However, we do not like him to go outside of the Tackles unless game plan dictates it. Pattern Reading Cover 3 Coverage If you have the ability, the level of players, and the coaching staff to teach and coach pattern reading, it is usually the best option for pass coverage. Though spot dropping is fast and simple to install, your players can often be wasted covering grass on the field rather than covering receivers. Spot dropping to zones results in holes in the coverage that can easily be attacked by the defense. While those same holes do exist in pattern reading Cover 3 coverage, the holes are more difficult to exploit because the players are dropping to cover receivers and not spots on the field. The most dangerous hole in Cover 3 is the weak side seam route. To help with this, our Overhang Safeties will always align 5 yards off the LOS and split the difference between any #2 Receiver removed and the Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 79

EMOLS. The Weak Safety will carry vertical releases by the #2 Receiver as he reads to the #1 Receiver. If #1 is also releasing vertical, the Weak Safety runs with #2. On the strong side, the Free Safety helps to take away seam routes by the #2 Receiver.
Cornerback Technique in Pattern Read Cover 3
The Cornerbacks will align at a depth of 7 to 9 yards off of the #1 Receiver, depending on the speed of the receiver compared to the corner. He will leverage 1 yard inside of the receiver. He keys the #2 receiver inside, which could be a Slot Receiver, Wing, Tight End, or Running Back in the backfield. The cornerbacks use a divider rule in their alignment. They will never aligned any wider than the bottom of the numbers. If the receiver goes wider, we can use the sideline for help in defending him. To get the best view of his read, the corner aligns in a tilted stance. His feet are no wider than shoulder width and they are balanced (not staggered). He points his belt buckle directly at the #2 receiver with his hands relaxed out front. His chest and head are up and eyes focused on the hips of the #2 receiver. Movement by #2 starts the play for the corner, as he cannot see the football. On movement, he opens his back foot to bring his shoulders perpendicular to the Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 80

LOS and shuffles out three steps. This is a slow, methodical slide out as he reads the #2 receiver. The 3 step slide should time up with the 3 step drop of a Quarterback under center. By the 3rd step, he should have read the release of #2. If he needs to continue to gain depth as he takes his eyes to the #1 Receiver, he will transition from a slide to a lateral run, driving his front leg over top of his back leg in a run, while keeping his shoulders perpendicular to the LOS.
Free Safety Technique in Pattern Read Cover 3
The Free Safety aligns at 10-14 yards depth, depending on game plan. Against teams that are more likely to threaten with the deep pass, particularly to the middle of the field, he should take a deeper alignment. Against heavy running teams he will be closer to the LOS. The Free Safety splits the difference between the two #1 Receivers, but we do not want him aligning any wider than the Offensive Tackle to either side by rule. His feet are tighter than shoulder width and he is squatted to a comfortable position. The foot nearest the most dangerous receiver (#2 receiver on the LOS, or if both are on the LOS, the #2 receiver to the wide side of the field) is back and will be the first foot to move when he begins his backpedal.
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The Free Safety gets his initial read by keying the backfield for a run-pass key. He is taught to read the mesh in the backfield as he slowly backpedals out. The Free Safety looks for the height of the ball, the depth of the Quarterback from the line of scrimmage, and the action of the backfield. 1. Height of the Ball: If the Quarterback comes out with the ball held up by his chest or ear, this is an indication of pass. The Free Safety gets his eyes to the most dangerous #2 receiver for his read. If the Quarterback keeps the ball low, this is a run read. He will continue his slow pedal until he is sure, then attack downhill. The Free Safety will work his fit off of the Overhang Safety to the side of the run. If the Safety maintains outside leverage to force the play, the Free Safety will fit inside of him. If the Overhang Safety cannot keep outside leverage to force the play, the Free Safety will fit outside of him. He is always working to make the force player right. 2. Ball Level: The distance the ball is carried by the Quarterback off of the LOS also helps indicate the play. If the Quarterback comes out flat down the line of scrimmage (Level 1), this indicates Option. The Free Safety runs to the edge and plays from outside of the Quarterback to inside of
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the pitch player. If the ball level comes out to underneath the initial alignment of the running back (Level 2), the Free Safety plays his run fit. If the ball comes out to deeper than the back, the Free Safety plays for pass (Level 3).
Figure 24: Reading Ball Level for Free Safety
3. Backfield Action: The Free Safety should also read the general flow of the offensive backfield, as well as specific backfield action for top plays each week. If he sees Fast Flow in which the backs in the backfield are running outside to one way or another, he immediately looks to fit off the Overhang Safety. If he sees Hard Flow, backs in the backfield running downhill for hard inside run, he works down and inside of the ball Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 83

carrier, but does not get closer than 5 yards to the LOS until the ball declares. He is expecting the spill players to do their job and force the ball to bounce outside. If he sees Dive Flow, he plays his option responsibility. Dive Flow involves one back going downhill, and one running outside. If he sees Split Flow, he should look for secondary reads in the form of pulling Offensive Linemen to indicate the direction of the play. He may also recognize backfield action for pass, like the backs setting up to pass block, releasing into a route, or sprint out passing.
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Figure 25: Backfield Flow Reads for Free Safety
Coaching Cornerbacks to Key the Number Two Receiver
The basis of our Pattern Read coverage is using the Cornerbacks to read the #2 The release of #2 will usually tell you the nature of the routes being run. The #2 Receiver, second eligible receiver in from the sideline, can give one of four reads: 1. Run Read: If #2 is a Tight End or Running Back we can get a clear run read from him. If #2 is a Slot Receiver, he may crack block the Overhang Safety, giving a run read. If the Corner gets a run read, he will take his Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 85

eyes to the #1 receiver at least through his 3 step shuffle to protect against Play Action passes or trick plays. He stays over top of the #1 receiver until either the receiver engages him in a stalk block, or the ball carrier passes the LOS. When in doubt, the corner stays in coverage longer.
Figure 26: Pre-Snap Focus for Cover 3 Defenders
2. Pass Release Vertical: If #2 releases vertical, the Corner will continue to get depth and take his eyes to #1. If #1 is releasing inside, he will sink and slide inside to get over top of #2. If #1 is releasing vertical or outside, he continues to get depth (if he is on the weak side with two
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receivers removed) to stay deeper than either receiver in his zone. Outside releases give a greater threat of a Out & Go or Hitch & Go. 3. Pass Release Out: If #2 releases out, the corner continues to sink and takes his eyes to #1. If #1 releases inside, the corner stops gaining depth and gets over top of #2. If #1 releases vertical, the corner should stay over top of #1. He will always be responsible for deep routes in his zone. If #1 is releasing out, he will shuffle out and stay over top without gaining more depth. 4. Pass Release Inside: If #2 releases inside, the corner locks on the #1 receiver. He is likely to get an inside breaking route from the #1 Receiver now. He should keep his leverage over top and inside of the #1 receiver. The Post Route is very common off of this release. There is some change for the Corner in Doubles formations with two receivers removed to each side. The Free Safety will give help to the wide side of the field, while the corner on the short side will get help from the Weak Safety.
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Examples of Pattern Reading Cover 3 versus Route Combinations In Figure 27, the #2 Receiver on both sides is going out. The Strong Safety and Weak Safety both get High Hat reads. They work from #2 Receiver to #1 Receiver. When #2 goes out, they run with him at a depth of 8-10 yards, maintaining inside leverage on the #2 receiver. If the #2 Receiver were to wheel his route, the safety will run with him.
Figure 27: Pattern Read Cover 3 vs. Slant-Arrow
The Inside Linebackers are dropping from #3 to #2. They get a run-pass key from #3 (the back in the backfield). When the #3 Receiver sets up to block, they take their eyes to the #2 Receiver on their side. When #2 goes out, they look for a new #2 Receiver. On the strong side, the #2 receiver goes out and the #1 receiver Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 88

runs a slant route back inside. The Inside Linebacker will pick up and collision to reroute this receiver if the ball is not in the air yet. On the weak side, the Lion sees #2 release outside. #1 is taking a deeper Post release behind his zone. He does not chase the route, but settles off to get underneath the route with the corner over top. The Cornerbacks read #2 to #1. The #2 Receiver gives a pass read, with an outside release. The corner takes his eyes to #1. He knows an outside release can have a threat of a wheel so he is not as aggressive chasing over top of the inside release by the #1 Receiver. He can be more aggressive on the weak side, where the #2 receiver is coming from the backfield. The Free Safety sees the outside release by #2, and looks to help on #1. If #1 on the wide side of the field does not threaten deep, he will look to help back on the #2 receiver from the short side of the field.
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Figure 28: Pattern Read Cover 3 vs. Post Out
In Figure 28 the Offense is running a Post-Out combination on the strong side. We play this release the same. We play this release the same as we did in Figure 27, with the Strong Safety chasing the out route. The biggest difference here is that the #1 Receiver is threatening the Free Safety deep. The Free Safety can communicate to the Corner that he can take over the Post Route, and the Corner can settle off to help the Strong Safety in case of a wheel route. We give a YOU YOU YOU! call from the Strong Safety to the Corner, letting him know that the outside breaking route is being passed off to the corner, and the Strong Safety is picking up the Post Route.
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The Free Safety can give the call to either cornerback depending on the route combination. However, it is much more common for him to work with the wide side Corner because that is where he usually takes his eyes first. The short side Corner should expect to be on his own more often than not. This is why we want the better cover corner on the short side. If routes are still pressing vertical and have not broken to indicate that an exchange may be happening, after 7 yards, we make a LOCK! call. The Free Safety calls LOCK! indicating that no exchanges will be happening. The coverage becomes a man coverage on vertical releases. Note that underneath crossing routes, because they are not pushing vertical past 7 yards, never lock. They can be passed off across the field.
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Figure 29: Pattern Read Cover 3 vs. Crossing Routes
In Figure 29, we have crossing routes by the #2 Receivers and an Out Route by the #3 Receiver. This introduces the PUSH! and CROSS! calls for the underneath zone players. When the 3-2 Dropper reads an outside release by #3, he knows to expect an inside release by #2. He makes a PUSH! Call to the 2-1 Dropper, letting him know there is a receiver coming outside. The Lion will take the inside release by #2, and the Weak Safety will take the outside release by #3. As the #2 Receiver begins to work across the field, the Lion knows that if he is leaving his zone, he should expect someone else to come into his zone. As the Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 92

crossing route by #2 gets to the middle of the field, he is calling CROSS! to the 32 dropper on the other side of the field, the Ram Linebacker. The Ram will be doing the same, since he is also getting an inside release by #2. They pass the receivers off to each other as the receivers cross the middle of the field. We will always look to reroute the receivers, collisioning their routes, unless they are under 5 yards. We do not chase receivers under 5 yards deep because this is our No Cover Zone. The Strong Safety does not have anything threatening his zone. He looks to help underneath of the post route. If the crossing route continues across, the Ram Linebacker will eventually make a PUSH! call to the Strong Safety, who will help picking up the crosser.
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Figure 30: Pattern Read Cover 3 vs. Bootleg
Figure 30 shows a play action, bootleg passing play. Bootleg routes off of Play Action can put any defense in a bind. We have to account for the threat of the run, then for the routes of the receivers, and finally for the threat of the Quarterback breaking contain and running the football. For bootleg routes, all of our normal rules apply. We know that the underneath coverage may not be as good, particularly by the Inside Linebackers. They are run-first players and should always be more aggressive on the run fakes. The Cornerbacks are both going to stay over top of the #1 Receivers and protect against the big play. The Free Safety knows that he cannot help the Go Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 94

Route by the #1 Receiver to the side of the bootleg, but he can help on the backside Post Route, or help by staying over top of the Drag Route. The Ram Linebacker sees the #3 receiver on his side set up to block as part of his play action read, so he takes his eyes to #2. He picks up and carries the drag route by #2 across the field but with the Quarterback moving away and no receiver coming back to threaten him, he does not pass the dragger off as he crosses. This is something we have to work through repetition and game plan. The Lion recognizes the play action, and has no #3 Receiver. The #2 Receiver goes out. When the 3-2 dropper recognizes bootleg to his side, he will attack to help contain the Quarterback. The 3-2 dropper, chasing the drag from the other side, will replace his zone. The Weak Safety, playing 2-1, picks up the outside release by the #2 Receiver. If the #2 Receiver from the backfield did not release outside, but instead ran down the seam or to the inside, the 3-2 dropper would not be responsible for bootleg. He would play the routes as he normally does. With nothing threatening the Weak Safety, he becomes responsible for helping to contain the Quarterback.
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Pattern Reading Cover 3 against Doubles Formations Any time that the offense uses 2 receivers removed on both sides, which we refer to as Doubles, we have to be alert. When we have a threat of four vertical routes threatening the coverage, we have a slight adjustment. On the strong side, The Free Safety favors to the #2 receiver. If #2 goes vertical, he will pick him up and the Cornerback locks on the #1 receiver. To the weak side, the Corner is going to be sinking for depth and favoring the #1 receiver, but he will be further inside than the wide side corner. The Weak Safety will pick up the vertical release of #2 and run in a trail technique behind him, trying to stay inside of and in the hip pocket of the vertical release. The Corner must stay over top of both routes and break on the ball in the air. He has the sideline for help to his outside on the #1 receiver.
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Figure 31: Pattern Read Cover 3 vs. 4 Vertical Routes in Doubles
Pattern Reading Cover 3 against Trips Formations Trips Formations do not offer a major challenge for our pattern reading. Some coaches will bump the Inside Linebackers out. This is a game plan adjustment if a team is running heavily to the three receiver side, but it is not a base adjustment for us. We prefer to keep the inside 6 players in their normal stacked positions as much as possible. For Trips Formations, we will use a Quarter-Quarter-Half coverage concept. This is going to be the same as our Cover 3 coverage, except for we will shrink the deep 1/3 of the trips side Corner and the Free Safety. The back side corner will be locked on the #1 Receiver in an off-man or press-man technique. We will decide Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 97

by game plan which technique is better, but often give some freedom to experienced corners to make that decision.
Figure 32: Pattern Read Cover 3 vs. Trips Formations
The biggest adjustment is for the Free Safety. He will slide over to inside shade of the #3 Receiver, or on the hash mark. He does not go wider than the hash mark regardless of the width of #3. He reads the release of #3 to the #2s release, in much the same way as a corner reads the release of #2 to get a clue for what #1 is doing. The Free Safety will handle any deep route by #3 first, and stay over top of inside breaking routes that can threaten to go vertical.
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If the #3 receiver goes outside, he will look for inside breaking routes from the #2 receiver or #1 receiver. If nothing threatens, he will gain depth and check to help a backside post from the single receiver side. The other adjustment for routes is the back side 3-2 dropper. He is going to work his drop to the middle of the field. The Weak Safety, a 2-1 dropper, handles any release by the back in the backfield to his side. The 3-2 dropper from the backside looks to help if the offense releases 4 receivers to the strong side and expects to get crossing routes coming back to him.
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Man Coverages and Blitzes

When we want to bring more coverage on the offense, our first option is to use man coverages and bring extra blitzers. We use Cover 1 (Man Free) to bring 5 pass rushers, and Cover 0 (Man Coverage) to bring 6 pass rushers. Cover 1 Coverage In Cover 1, the Free Safety will always be the deep player. He stays in his back pedal and gets deeper than the deepest receiver. His technique changes very little from the way he plays Cover 3. He will favor to the most dangerous #2 receiver. The only difference is that a big part of his diagnosis of most dangerous will depend on who is covering the receiver. The Free Safety will give his help to Inside Linebackers first, before helping our more athletic Overhang Safeties in man coverage. With the Free Safety helping inside, the players responsible for the #2 Receivers will align with an outside shade, using the Free Safety as help. Our base alignment for Off Man Coverage is 7 yards off, 1 yard outside of the #2 Receiver. For Corners, we align 7 yards off and 1 yard inside of the #1 Receiver. The cornerbacks help comes from the sideline first, not the Free Safety.
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If the #1 and #2 receiver are less than 5 yards apart, we never want to have our man coverage receivers on the same level meaning the same depth from the LOS. The cornerback should back up to a depth of 8 yards to ensure he is not on the same level. We do not like playing under 7 yards unless we are in press man. This is a No Mans Land where we are close enough to let the receiver run by us, but not close enough to disrupt his release off the LOS. The cornerbacks are always responsible for the #1 receiver. The next player inside will handle the #2 receiver normally the Overhang Safety. If we have 3 receivers removed to one side, the Overhang Safety from the other side will come over to cover him, or we can make a BOUNCE! call to the Inside Linebacker to bump outside and help. He will make an IN! call to the Defensive End to make sure the End is slanting inside to handle the B Gap. In some situations, we will be forced to check out of blitzes. The key to blitzing from man coverage is knowing your opponent, and choosing just 2 or 3 blitzes that will be most effective for you that week. By only have a few blitzes in your package, you can take time to teach your players to adjust or check the blitz to any look your opponent may give you. In a worst-case scenario, our players would check out of the man blitz and into a base Cover 3 call. Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 101
Figure 33: Base MAUL 1 vs. Doubles Formation
Figure 34: Base MARE 1
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Figure 35: Base Blast 1
Figure 36: Strong RAZOR 1
Bringing Overhang Safeties can make blitzes more complicated. We usually we either bring these from the short side of the field, or against 2-back formations. Presented by Football-Defense.com Page 103

The issue with using Overhang Safety blitzes against 1-back formations is that the Inside Linebacker can not get out to take coverage on the removed #2 Receiver. Notice in Figure 36 that the Mike Linebacker is responsible for the #2 receiver, since both players to his outside are blitzing. Since the #2 receiver is a Tight End, and the Mike has no open gap on his side, he can prowl outside to get position to help cover the Tight End. The Free Safety must also be alert to give extra help over top of the Tight End, particularly if the Tight End breaks to the outside. If the #2 Receiver was removed, we would have to check this blitz . The easiest check to make is to check the blitz to the next man inside. Instead of running Strong Razor 1, we will check to Strong Mare 1. The Mike and Ram are on the blitz, and the Strong Safety takes the #2 Receiver removed in off-man coverage.
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Figure 37: Base LASER 1
There are endless blitz possibilities with Cover 1 in the 3-3-5 Defense. Take time to game plan your opponent and decide where the best blitz attacks will be. You may want to blitz at a certain play or tendency, at a weak player on the Offensive Line, or blitz to get a certain player on your defense moving or attacking to make a big play. The biggest key to blitzing in the 3-3-5 Defense is to blitz with a purpose, rather than just throwing bodies at the Offense. Cover 0 Blitzes in the 3-3-5 Defense As with Cover 1, Cover 0 offers a huge variety of blitzes. But we only want to carry one or two blitzes with us. Often, we will only have one Cover 0 blitz in the package, and that will be our Empty Check for the week. An Empty Check is the
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play call that your defense will automatically check to if the Offense comes out unexpectedly in an Empty formation. We will generally use Pinch Zoo 0 as our base Empty Check. The ZOO call brings all 6 inside players. The Strong Safety and Weak Safety are responsible for the #2 Receivers and the Free Safety is responsible for the #3 receiver. In Cover 0, we always play with inside leverage on the receivers because there is no help to the inside. We want to force the Quarterback to throw the ball through the defender.
Figure 38: Pinch Zoo 0
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A second favorite blitz from Cover 0 is Pinch SAW 0. Using Pinch Saw, we bring the widest blitzer that does not need to play man coverage on a removed receiver. The Free Safety will take a #2 Receiver removed if the Overhang Safety on his side is blitzing. If there the Overhang Safety needs to play man coverage on a #2 or #3 receiver to his side, he will check the blitz to the Inside Linebacker.
Figure 39: Pinch Saw 0 vs. 2-back Personnel
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Figure 40: Pinch Saw 0 vs. 1-back Personnel
Figure 41: Pinch Saw 0 vs. 00 Personnel
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Notice that Pinch Saw 0 becomes the same blitz as Pinch Zoo 0 against an Empty Formation. This is why we do not use Saw 0 as an Empty Check in most situations. If we did have an Empty formation that used a Tight End, we could still bring the Overhang Safety off of the edge and have the Inside Linebacker play man coverage on the Tight End. This would be a game plan call, and usually not our base Empty Check. You can get creative with blitzes in the 3-3-5 Defense with Cover 0, but we do not want to confuse our players and do not want to run a blitz unless we have a purpose in it.
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Installing Zone Blitzes

Man blitzes have a high ratio of risk to reward. There is always the possibility for a big play when we start blitzing 5 or 6 players but that possibility can be just as high for the Offense as it is for the Defense against top opponents. Many coaches prefer the security of a 3 deep zone coverage, but would like to bring more than just a 4 man pressure on some downs. Zone blitzes are an excellent way to accomplish that goal. No defense gives you the opportunity for creative and effective zone blitzing with minimal install time like the 3-3-5 Defense. Unlike even front defenses, you do not need to drop a Defensive Lineman into coverage to bring fast and aggressive blitzes from all angles. The 3 down lineman structure lets you bring your three defensive linemen and a combination of two Linebackers, one Linebacker and one Secondary player, or two Secondary players on any down. Our 3 deep Fire Zone coverage lets you still have the safety of a deep coverage to make the tackle if the blitz does not get to the Quarterback in time (or fails to stop the run).
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Installing Fire Zone Coverage with Pattern Reading Principles Because we are already using a Pattern Reading Cover 3 as the base coverage, it is very easy to install our 3 Fire Coverage. The only difference between Cover 3 and 3 Fire is one less player in the underneath zones. We are using a 3 Under, 3 Deep Zone Coverage because we are rushing 5 players, instead of just four. The rules remain the same. The Corners read the #2 Receiver for his release to get a clue to the routes they can expect. They will end up covering the #1 Receiver the vast majority of the time. The Free Safety does not change anything about the way that he plays in 3 Fire.
Figure 42: Base MARE 3 Fire vs Doubles
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For the underneath zones, we still have the outside two Overhang Safeties or Linebackers who are not blitzing playing as a 2 to 1 Dropper. The remaining player is the only minor change. He is a Drop on 3 player. This means that he will open up on his drop to get to a position of inside leverage on the #3 Receiver, no matter which way he releases. He will still make a PUSH! call if the #3 Receiver goes out, expecting another receiver to come into him and to exchange with the 2-1 dropper. He also listens for CROSS! calls from the 2-1 dropper if an outside receiver comes to cross into the middle. We can use all of our Cover 1 Blitzes with 3 Fire Coverage. This keeps us from needing to install any new blitzes into the system. Using 3 Fire is a great way to disguise blitzes as well, because your alignment pre-snap will look exactly like you would look in your base defense. Unlike Cover 1 or Cover 0, the defenders do not have to adjust their drops.
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Figure 43: Base SMACK 3 Fire vs Pro Formation
The Smack Blitz sends the Strong Safety and the Mike. The Ram Linebacker now becomes the 2-1 dropper because the Strong Safety is blitzing. Just like any of our Cover 1 blitzes can be run with 3 Fire, Smack and its weak side counterpart Wham can be coupled with either coverage. Our Wham blitz sends the Weak Safety and the Mike.
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Figure 44: Base WHAM 3 Fire vs Slot Formation
We like to incorporate one of our Cover 0 blitzes with the Fire 3 coverage. The Saw blitz with Fire 3 can bring both Overhang Safeties off the edge without having to worry about checking the blitz. Since it is not being used as a Cover 0 blitz, you need all three Inside Linebackers to drop into coverage.
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Figure 45: Pinch Saw 3 Fire vs Slot Formation
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Final Thoughts and Resources on the 3-3-5 Defense

The 3-3-5 Defense is one of the most popular defenses in football today, and its popularity will continue to grow as offensive coaches adopt the spread-thefield philosophy. Our best chance to meet the demand of defending the entire field is to maximize speed on the field, and the 3-3-5 Defense lets us do that. You can expand your 3-3-5 Defense package from what is presented here, or you can use simplify from this book and use only the base packages presented here. You may wish to use a Quarters Coverage package, to expand your blitz package, to include a variety of fronts, and more. Many teams find the base 3-3-5 to be the perfect all-purpose defensive solution. They limit their coverages to Cover 1, Cover 0 and Cover 3. They substitute bigger players for the Overhang Safeties in goal line situations and move them up on the line, effectively changing the defense into a 5-3 Defense. They limit the necessary teaching for their players so that the players can be confident in their assignments and play fast. This is a great philosophy for
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defending the huge variety of offenses that we see week in and week out in football today. Play Calling Philosophy There is a learning curve with the 3-3-5 Defense, as there is with any front. If you stick with the defense over time, you will find the fronts and coverages that work best against different offenses, and in various situations. The most important consideration is why you are blitzing. When we blitz, we want to create defensive fronts. While other coaches need to install the Defense of the Week to stop the offense theyre seeing, we can simply blitz to it. For more information on blitzing to create fronts, you can read this article on Football-Defense.com. When you watch film, decide where you would align your players if you could install any defense you wanted. Unlike the Defense of the Week crew, you can actually do it. Your players know how to play their positions, and how to blitz. We can create the look of an Over Front, Under Front, Bear Front, or anything else that would be ideal to stop the opponent. And It is a part of the base package.
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Resources for Defensive Football Coaches Throughout this book you have seen links to many articles on coaching the 33-5 Defense at Football-Defense.com. If you are interested in learning more about either the 3-3-5 Defense, other top defenses in football today, or if you are just beginning in coaching and want to learn more about the game today, you should start there. To get a feel for what our site has to offer, you can see all of the Free Articles that are available here. We have over 50 free articles, part of the over 300 defensive football articles and videos available on the site. Young coaches or coaches just entering the profession will find a lot of benefit by watching our Defensive Coaching Basics video series. These videos work their way through the basics of coaching terminology, philosophy and more. This is an accelerated path to becoming a football coaching expert. You can get a Free Trial Membership to Football-Defense.com by visiting http://football-defense.com/membership and clicking on the link to Get Access Now! Use the Free Trial to look around the site, soak up the information, and decide if the site is right for you. Since you have already purchased this book, it is
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obvious that you are willing to use your resources to get better. Youll find that Football-Defense.com is second to none in helping you in that pursuit. If you are looking to expand on your Fire Zone package, you should download Dominating Football Defense with the Zone Blitz. That eBook will cover the principles of Zone Blitzing, including expanding your package to include more blitzes, more coverages, and great technique. We also go in depth on the philosophy behind play calling for Zone Blitzes. To improve your Linebacker Play, check out Position Perfection: Linebacker Manual. The Linebacker Manual eBook goes in detail on coaching the Inside Linebacker position effectively to maximize your linebacker groups potential. As we talked about in this book, these players are the heart of your defense and deserve the extra effort. Football-Defense.com also has published eBooks on Coaching Footballs 4-2-5 Defense and Installing Footballs 4-3 Over Defensive Front. Both eBooks are available for instant download, if you are searching through your defensive options or just wanting to learn more.
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Thank you for purchasing this eBook. If you have any questions, please use our Forum to ask it there. You will get a response from our community members, including myself. This is a great community to expand your football knowledge as well. Again, I encourage you to sign up for a Free Trial of Football-Defense.com today!
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Coaching 335 Defense

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Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Football's 3-3-5 Defense

Copyright 2013 Football-Defense.com. LLC

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Why the 3-3-5 Defense?

The Spread Offense Changes the Game

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Good Defense Has Not Changed!

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Why the 3-3-5 Defense?

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

What to Expect From This Book

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Base Alignment in the 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Figure 1: 3-3-5 Defense, Base Alignment

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Putting Players in the Right Position

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Defensive Line Movement

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

4 Basic Defensive Line Stunts

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Figure 2: Base Pinch 3

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Figure 4: Base Strong 3

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Figure 5: Base Weak 3

Teaching Defensive Line Movements

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Figure 6: Outside Slant, Block Reactions

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Figure 7: Inside Slant, Block Reactions

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Figure 8: Base 3, with Nose Guard using Crush Technique

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense

Inside Linebackers in the 3-3-5 Defense

Coaching Footballs 3-3-5 Defense