Untitled - Fast and Furious Football

8E FOOTBALL COACHING STRATEGIES
A great deal has been made ofour flex atignment.
Int€restingly, this system ofgap cancellation
has its roots in the Canadian Footbatl L€ague
where everybody must align a yard otr the ball.
The question thus became who to move up. cetting
up on the ball helps our pass rush and creat€s
the thrcat of quick penetmtion. Playing off
the ball helps us rcact appropriately to a wider
range of blocking combinations and facititates
change-up in assignments liom a single atignment.
Linebackers
Keep the cent€r from getting to tbe LB levet at
all cost. Vemus pass, ru6h opposite the callside
and expect to be double-teamed.
Fex
This position can be played by the whip or end.
Align with a slight inside shade on the def€nsive
tackle and flex24" to 36' o1I the LOS_ Detend th€
B gap versus the run, as defin€dby the hip ofthe
guard. From this alignment, we can use our rormal
ag$essive footwork and still expect a gTeat
run reaction. Ifpass shows, our end wiU fight for
contain, or if whip is in the flex, he,ll react according
to the coverage called.
Backside Seven
Can be play€d by either the whip or end. Align
and defend the run exactly like stud, but we witl
sacri{ice some ag$essiveness to insure conect,
ness. Versus pass, the end will rush contain and
whip will react accordingto coverage.
We allow our callside people to play "on the
edge" every snap and expect our backside people
to give us the maigin for enor that kind of play
rpquires by being eract ly correcr. By challengi ng
the gaps, using consistent footwork, and rcmoving
some fear of the mistake, we tr-uly achieve
the attack mentality our defense is known for
Our inside iinebackers arc normaltynottied to a
gap in the tackle box; nther, they are expected
to n]n the alley which our front five has forced
the ba]l to bounc€ into. This requires them to atign
with a $eat deal of variety, depending on the
threat posed by any given for.rnation.
The linebackers align, along with the second,
ary, accoding to strength call that typically indicates
the \.ide set ofthe field. Our rnver, or strong
inside linebacker, r.ill align relative to the third
eligible while Mike, our weak inside linebacker
will align with the second eligible on the weak
side, counting outside in. Our tinebackers (along
w'th thc slrong sa fpry I will. I herefoj"c. be rhe princjpal
adjustem to any shifts or motion. This fteedom
ofalignment facilitat€s man coverage, keeps
us in proximity to changing refercnce points for
zone coverage, and is consistentwith ourru! responsibility.
Versus a balanced 2-back set, our base alignment
is 5 yar& deep outside shade ofthe guard
(see Figure 2).
TIGURE 2 Linebacker alignment versus
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If we arc align€d versus a single ba€k behind
the QB, we deepen to 6 yards, with our near foot
on th€ ball. wlren aligned on a TE, note that we
assume a position (4 x 4) that allows us to force
the run (see Figue 3).
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