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Position Perfection: The LinebackerManual
Getting the Best Out of Your Linebackers
by Joe Daniel
Please do not copy or distribute this eBook without the written consent of the author. This eBook is availableexclusively 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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Contents
Introduction.....................................5
Chapter 1: Characteristics of Linebackers.....................................7
Aggressiveness....................................................................7Quickness............................................................................7Speed..................................................................................8Explosiveness......................................................................8Using Hands.........................................................................9Change of Direction.............................................................9
Coachable..........................................................................10Intangibles.........................................................................11
Chapter 2: Coaching LinebackerStance...........................................13
Coaching the Stance..........................................................13Get Comfortable................................................................14
The Unbreakable Rule of Linebacker Stance......................15
Chapter 3: Teaching Linebackers toRead the Triangle...........................17
What Can We Read?...........................................................17 The Triangle Read .............................................................18What to Teach....................................................................19
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Chapter 4: Coaching Linebackers to
Read the Offensive Line..................20Why to Consider a Change.................................................20Who to Key on the Offensive Line......................................21What to Look For ...............................................................21Stimulus-Response Learning..............................................22
Chapter 5: Teaching Block Destruction
Using the Rip Technique..................25 The Old Way......................................................................25Rip Through.......................................................................26On the Wrong Side.............................................................27
The End Result ..................................................................27
Chapter 6: How to Teach Tackling to
Your Linebackers (...or anyone else!).....................................................29
Shimmy Point.....................................................................29 The Art of the Approach ....................................................31Approach Angle.................................................................31
Teaching the Finish............................................................32Do Not Rush Tackling!........................................................33
Chapter 7: Linebacker DrillDescriptions...................................34
Stance & Footwork Drills....................................................34Block Destruct...................................................................36
Tackling..............................................................................37 Turnovers...........................................................................38Pass Coverage...................................................................39
Pass Rush...........................................................................40
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Chapter 8: Film Study Worksheet....42
Tape Study Objectives........................................................42Preparation........................................................................43
Chapter 9: Creatures of Habit..........46
Why are Habits so Important?............................................46How to Create Good Habits................................................47Breaking Bad Habits..........................................................47
Habits off the Field.............................................................48
Chapter 10: Building a CompleteLinebacker ....................................49
Resources..........................................................................49
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Introductionhis manual has been built over several years of working with
Linebackers. I have put a lot of trial and error into finding out
what it takes to make successful Linebackers. Our job as coaches is
to take players at whatever level of ability they have, and make
them better. Take pride in making your Linebackers, at any level,
the best player they can possibly be.
T
In this manual we will explore all aspects of Linebacker play
including:
• Characteristics of a good Linebacker. Not every player fits your
prototypical mold. We need to know what we are looking for in
a Linebacker – and give priority to certain traits.
• Get your players in the best possible stance to play a game of
football. The stance is crucial. It is the level and body position
that we want our players most comfortable in. It must match
the best possible physical position for them to be in to make
good football plays.
• Teaching Linebackers to read and react fast. No player on the
field is in more conflict than Linebackers. They are, in many
defenses, the only players responsible for both defending the
run, and covering the pass. They are the man in the middle,
who may be going forward or backward on any given snap.
Therefore, their keys must give them a quick summary of what
will be happening on the play, so they can get going fast.
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• Teaching your Linebackers to defeat blocks. Your players have
to understand that if they want to make tackles against goodfootball teams, they will have to beat a block to make it
happen. Good football teams do not leave players unblocked
to make plays!
• Teaching Tackling. This lesson on teaching tackling can apply
to any defensive football player on your team. But your
Linebackers are going to be making the vast majority of your
tackles on defense. They should be good, sound tacklers who
do not shy away from contact. But they must do everything
with safety first in mind.
• Drills for building a well rounded Linebacker. There are some
drills that your players need to do every day, and others that
they only need to do occasionally. But if you want a technique
executed right, you must teach it – and teach it right.
There are hundreds of articles at Football-Defense.com which cover
a huge variety of topics. What you read here is focused on one
particular position, and is just one part of creating a great football
defense. But Linebackers are certainly a good place to start!
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Chapter 1: Characteristics of Linebackers
uring the Off-Season, you should be putting plenty of time
into player evaluation. It is important to know exactly what
qualities and characteristics you value at each position on your
team. For our Linebackers, this is a list of characteristics that we
look for in our players.
D
AggressivenessFor Linebackers, it all starts here. If the kid does not want to get into
the mix, he cannot offer us much help at the position. Does he seek
contact, or shy away from it? Is he running around blocks, rather
than taking them on and defeating them? Bonus points if he has a
nasty streak.
At lower levels of football, a player may have just not had the light
come on yet. If he possesses a lot of other tools, keep working with
him. The switch does get flipped!
If you are at the Varsity level or College, and this switch has not
been flipped yet, you probably need to look elsewhere. If a player isnot aggressive, he cannot play this position.
QuicknessLinebackers need quickness more than straight line speed. Can his
feet react quickly to what his eyes are seeing? Linebackers are all
about eyes and footwork.
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When the player recognizes the play, can he fill his gap in a hurry?
Quickness is a big key in being able to cover downhill running playsfrom tackle to tackle, which is the primary purpose of your Inside
Linebackers. Sideline to Sideline guys are a bonus
SpeedSpeed factors into the ability of a player to pursue to the football. If
he can run fast, he can be a sideline to sideline player. While it ismore important to be a solid Tackle to Tackle player, we don't mind
these guys either.
It is not necessary to run a 4.5 second 40-Yard Dash to be a good
linebacker. It does not hurt, either.
Explosiveness The explosion needs to come from the player's legs, his hips and his
hands. In terms of tackling, your linebackers have to be able to
square a guy up, explode their hips into him, shoot their hands, and
drive him back.
Linebackers have to be able to play under control to use their
explosiveness. A few lucky, out of control kill-shots does not
indicate explosiveness (though it may indicate aggressiveness).
Explosiveness factors into not only making tackles, but also into
defeating blocks.
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Using Hands
For young defensive linemen and linebackers, using the hands
properly seems to be one of the toughest things to do. Guys want to
throw their shoulder into every oncoming object they see.
But can a player use his hands to control a blocker? If you see a kid
scraping across from the back side, looking like he's feeling his way
past the blockers with his hands, then he's got it. Eyes up, hands
up, feeling past closed doors and looking for open ones.
If he can lock out a blocker, read the play behind him, and come off
to the ball side – he's got it. This is a hard skill to teach, and even
harder to execute on the field. Some kids are naturals though, and
it is good to find those kids.
Change of DirectionIf a player can see the play going away from him, put his food in the
ground and follow it, then he has the ability to change directions
quickly. This is another hard skill to teach (though it can be taught),
so it is nice to find a kid that can do it well already. Change of
direction is directly related to quickness.
Being able to change directions quickly relies heavily on proper
footwork. If a kid is crossing his feet or clicking his heels in a shuffle,
or turning his shoulders in a lateral run, he is going to have a hard
time changing directions. If a player has not been taught proper
footwork yet, you may not be able to judge his ceiling in terms of
change of direction.
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Change of direction is a great indicator of overall athleticism for
yours. Drills like Shuttle Run and L-Drill (combine drills) are used tofind out who is truly athletic.
Another point on change of direction is that kids who do not bend
well in their legs and hips will not be able to change directions well.
You have to be able to drop your level down in order to change
direction quickly. These players are probably also not very
explosive. The ability to bend is something that has to be addressedin the weight room during the off-season.
CoachableDoes this player take coaching well? There are guys who are very
raw, but when you tell them to do something to fix a problem, the
problem gets fixed. Quickly. Then you add another instruction, andanother problem is fixed.
These guys are coachable and they will improve quickly. Being
coachable does not mean that the player wants to, it means that he
does what he is coached to do. Many players, especially younger
players, really want to please you but just do not know enough
about their body (or understand what you are saying) to fix the
problems quickly.
There are other players who take personal offense to being
coached, and they are going to be difficult to teach. Even worse, if a
player has an attitude about being coached or feels that they know
how to do it better, it may not even be worth trying.
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Coachable players are going to show improvement, and show it
quickly. Take this into account when deciding whether a player cantruly help your team.
IntangiblesIs this guy a playmaker? Do good things seem to happen around
him? Does he have great leadership ability, that makes the other
players on the field better? There are a lot of aspects of playinglinebacker to consider that do not fit into a nice, neat little package.
We may not be able to explain why a player is always nearby when
a fumble happens, or the Quarterback throws a bad ball, but we
know it happens. Take results into account. In college I played with
a back-up Linebacker (or I should say, we were back-ups) who was
never going to win the starting job. But every time he stepped onthe field, good things happened. The QB just seemed to want to loft
the ball right to him as soon as he got in the game.
I do not believe in luck, necessarily, but some guys just manage to
make things happen and we can not explain it with combine
numbers.
Leadership is also a major component. Linebackers should be the
leaders of your defense. They should make your defense better by
their presence. They are responsible for strength calls, recognizing
tendencies, recognizing personnel and down & distance. They have
to know the situations and communicate to make everyone else
better.
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This is a short list of qualities, and many of them are simply
qualities of a good football player. With a few changes to thedescriptions, you can apply these same qualities to your Defensive
Backs or Defensive Line.
Once you determine your own criteria, assign a score of 1 to 5 for
each player and check their total score. This is a good way to have
an evaluation on your players.
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Chapter 2: Coaching LinebackerStance
ome coaches are so detail oriented. They can see every little
mistake and they need every detail done to perfection. Other
coaches are results-oriented guys. They don't care how the job gets
done, as long as the result is a good one.
S
No where on the defensive side do these differences become more
obvious than when teaching linebacker stance. Some teams will
have 2 or 3 linebackers standing at exactly the same depth, looking
like a picture out of a manual.
Others have guys at different levels, or even moving around. Their
hip height is different, foot width, and anything else you can think of
– each linebacker is standing in their own individual stance.
I believe in getting results, and I believe in tailoring our coaching to
each individual player. We have guidelines that our players follow,
to help us get where we need to be in our stance faster. But the
stance is largely up to individual preferences. We have only one rule
that cannot be broken.
Coaching the StanceWe start with the feet and work our way up when teaching stance:
1. Start with your feet under your arm pits, and balanced. Squat
down with hands on your knees like a center fielder in baseball
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would.
2. Arch the back, pushing your chest out and “show your
numbers” to the offense. The chest is big, and the eyes are up
are the coaching points here.
3. Drop your hands, and let your arms relax. I don't care where
the hands are, but they should be somewhere where you can
see them out of your peripheral vision.
4. Pick one foot – whichever one you feel more comfortable with,
and step it forward just a few inches so that your feet are
staggered in a heel to toe relationship. This is one change I
have made in my coaching the last couple of years that has
nearly eliminated false steps!
5. Roll forward just slightly. We want the weight to be about 60%
on the front half of our feet, but not so much that the heels are
off the ground. Coupled with the stagger, it is now almost
impossible for our first step to be anything but forward.
Get ComfortableNow that we have established the starting point, let your players be
comfortable. As standardized as our teaching is in the first 5
minutes, the actual stances vary greatly.
We can get the foot width wider, especially for players with long
legs (especially a long femur). I do not like the width of the feet to
get any tighter, because we risk being off-balance.
The hip height can also change, and usually needs to for individual
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players. Hip height refers to how high their waist is, and is much
more important than the height of the player – which can beadjusted by dropping their chest, something we do not want to
happen.
If the hips are too low in stance, the first motion the player is going
to make is to rise up to a position where they can move
comfortably. While we all want to stress “Low Man Wins” principles,
our players have to be able to move. To get him lower, you will haveto address his hip flexibility and ankle flexibility, which need to
happen during the off-season, not while we are coaching stance.
The hands are very negotiable, as I mentioned. I like them to be
relaxed and hang in front. But as a player, I had a weird, spirit-finger
like thing going on with my hands, a result of lots of nervous energy
(and not uncommon in other players). All that I ask is that we have
our hands where we can see them out of our peripheral vision, not
cocked behind them, and that they do not ball their fists.
The Unbreakable Rule of Linebacker Stance The one rule that we cannot break at the linebacker position has
little to do with how the stance looks. It is the first step, and
specifically that we gain ground with that first step.
Train your players to never take false steps. False steps can cost a
half a yard or more on each play, which is a huge difference in the
course of the game. Think of how many times you see guys just
barely miss a tackle – if they false step to start the play, that is the
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difference!
The biggest change for us has been the staggered step. If it seems
to go against what you have been teaching, I suggest that you only
try it. Grab a few guys, and go out and teach the staggered stance.
Tell them you are just trying something out. Run through some drills
and see what happens.
To drill your players on not false stepping, we place a step-over pad
behind their heels to start our drills. If they kick the pad, they know
they are false stepping. Some of them are really surprised at first,
but once they get used to feeling the false step, they can tell you
when they do it, even without the pad.
Getting rid of this bad habit will get your players to the ball,
quicker!
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Chapter 3: Teaching Linebackers toRead the Triangle
nyone who has designed or implemented a new defense, at
any level, knows that one of the big decisions to be made is
what your Linebackers should be reading. We all want the truest
read, that will be picked up the fastest.
A
What Can We Read?Options for your Linebacker reads include:
• Reading one offensive lineman, most commonly a Guard.
• Reading multiple offensive linemen. We have used a 2-Man
Surface read for Outside Linebackers in the 4-3 Defense, where
a backer would read the player on either side of his primary
gap responsibility.
• Reading a single Offensive Back for flow. This means that
Linebackers have to be reading different backs against 2-Back
or 3-Back sets.
• Reading multiple Offensive Backs for flow reads. If your players
can read flow, they can all key the same thing and get to the
right place.
In order to be successful, it is necessary for linebackers to read
more than one player or action on a given play. We have the
Linebackers read the back field flow first, and pick up secondary
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keys from the Offensive Line in order to get the quickest and most
accurate reads for our Linebackers.
The Triangle Read Teaching Linebackers to read the triangle is an involved process. We
are training their eyes to see, their brain to process, and their feet
to react. As time goes on we want to bypass the brain and have the
feet react quickly to what the eyes see.
When we talk about “Reading the Triangle,” we refer to:
1. The Snap of the Football. See the football from the corner of
your eye. This is not the “Primary” read, but something that
we have to do before anything else can happen. It may be
possible to play your base defense without ever seeing the
football – just move when your primary key moves. But with an
extensive blitz package, we want our players to be used to
keying ball movement to jump the snap.
2. The Nearest Running Back . The Mike Linebacker will key the
Fullback, which is easy to understand if the Offense is in the I-
Formation. The Will and Sam read the nearest back to them –
or the Tailback in the I-Formation. We will change our read
rules for certain offensive formations such as cross-keying the
backs in a Split-back Gun formation or cross-keying the Wing
Backs in a Wing-T Formation. This is all based on scouting
reports.
3. Nearest Offensive Guard. We are not getting a true read on the
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Guards, we are looking through the Guards to the backs. All
that we want to do is see if the Guard on our side doessomething out of the ordinary – either Pull or Pass Set. The
“Pretty Girl in the Mall” concept catches their attention – see
the Guards just like you see a pretty girl walking by in the mall.
You are not necessarily looking for her, but when she walks by
– you notice! We do not directly key the Offensive Line
because even though they are the best key when they do what
they are supposed to – they are often not a very clean read.
What to TeachIf your experience has been anything like mine, you have found that
some players prefer one type of read, while others are more
comfortable with another. If you are 100% certain that one way or
another (reading backs, or offensive line) is the most effective, or
you are more effective coaching it, then you should use it.
I am flexible with what our players are reading and try to teach both
concepts. Some players have preferred reading offensive linemen or
have trouble seeing the Running Backs over the line, and we will
adjust accordingly.
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Chapter 4: Coaching Linebackers toRead the Offensive Line
ver the years I have put a lot of thought into how we should
teach Linebacker reads, and up to this current season I
preferred to read running backs. I thought our Linebackers could get
a better, faster read.
O
As I have mentioned, we always give options and utilize secondarykeys with the Offensive Line even when we are keying the backs as
our primary key. But now I am leaning towards teaching the
Offensive Line as our primary key.
Why to Consider a Change
The multitude of backfield formations has made it difficult to teachbackfield reads. Split back shotgun formations are different from
splitback formations under center. The Pistol is tougher to read than
the I-Formation. Wing-T, Single Wing and Double Wing formations
add even more confusion to the mix.
It seems that with our backfield keys, we are finding it necessary to
change the reads almost every week, even from formation toformation in a single game. While the reads all make sense within
our basic structure, to our players it can sometimes seem like we
are learning a whole new defense!
Year after year, I have found it necessary to teach some form of
read on the offensive line as the season progressed, for one reason
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or another. Now we will look into making that the primary key.
Neither way of doing things is wrong, and there are more ways than
this. However, this is another option that you should consider in
how you teach linebackers to read the play.
Who to Key on the Offensive Line The first question we had was, who do we need to look at? Your
Linebackers need to have a basic rule, so that they can play any
Linebacker position without changing their job completely.
In our 4-3 Defense, our Linebackers need to be able to play either
the Sam, Mike or Will. I believe that the reads we have developed
will fit with our Over Front, Under Front, and our Odd Stack front or
3-3-5 Front. The keys we have developed should work with any
defensive front we align.
We will key the nearest uncovered lineman. For our Base 4-3 Over
Front, our Sam Linebacker keys the Strong Tackle, while the Mike
and Will key the Weak Guard.
What to Look For The obvious keys to look for pulls by Offensive Linemen. But we
want to get a definite read off of anything that the uncovered
lineman does, so these reads will take some time to teach. We have
to be detailed, and give our players the right answer for any type of
block they see.
Your players have to be able to key down blocks, reach blocks and
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zone blocks. They also need to quickly recognize blocks where the
uncovered lineman fires directly at them, which we call “Block To.”
Finally, we have to recognize the High Hat read. This is one of the
biggest reasons for keying offensive linemen. We cannot afford to
get sucked up on play action so badly that we cannot be effective at
defending the pass. If we recognize high hat reads from offensive
linemen, we will get a much improved key on play action.
Stimulus-Response LearningI have been able to spend a good deal of time listening to Jerry
Campbell talk about his Stimulus-Response learning system, which
led me to focusing on how we will read our keys and develop a
stimulus-response package for our players.
Explanation of TermsBefore we go to our Stimulus-Response learning, lets talk about
some of the terms we use.
• Tight to Color means to fit tight off the hip of the defensive
end, with no air between you and him. The phrase refers to
being tight to the person wearing the same color jersey as
you.
• Run Through refers to the Mike Linebacker taking the first
opening he sees on an outside run play. Because the Outside
Linebacker is attacking Tight to Color , his gap is now open and
there is usually a resulting seam. The Mike can expect the ball
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carrier to cut back to him if he takes this run through.
• Counter Shuffle tells our players who are on the backside to
shuffle at 4 yards for cut-back until the ball declares. They are
not to pass their gap responsibility or the Center until then. We
want them to shuffle at 4 yards so that they do not get caught
up in the mess of larger bodies at the Line of Scrimmage.
Linebacker Stimulus-Reponse The following is an example of what we will teach each of our
Linebackers in the 4-3 Over Defensive Front. There are slight
changes for each position, but the basics are consistent.
Stimulus Mike Response OLB Response
Down Block Fill Weak B Fill (Spin Down)
Block To Block Destruct Block Destruct
Zone To Fill Strong A Fill (Spin Down)
Zone Away Fill Weak B Counter-Shuffle
Reach To Run Through Tight to Color
Reach Away Run Through Counter-Shuffle
Pull Inside Fill Strong A Counter-Shuffle
Pull Outside Run Through Tight to Color
High Hat Pass Drop Pass Drop
The biggest differences are for the Mike Linebacker compared to the
Outside Linebackers, but if they have an understanding of their
position, there is less confusion. In addition, if you run a defense
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where your Linebackers have one gap, such as a 3-3-5 or 4-2-5
Defense, your keys are even simpler and more transferable fromposition to position.
Our Mike Linebacker is a true 2-Gap defender, and so where other
players have Counter-Shuffle responsibility to play for cut-back, the
Mike Linebacker has no cut-back. He is always filling to the play
side. Once he understands the blocks, he understands when to fill.
For the Will Linebacker, he always has the Mike Linebacker filling
the weak side B Gap in our defense, and so the “Spin Down”
notation refers to him. He does not fill a gap because there is not
one for him to fill on flow to. He shuffles down behind the Defensive
End, and fills the first open space he finds, working from inside to
outside.
Since every defense is different, you have to take the ideas that we
are using and adapt them to exactly what you want your
Linebackers to do. I developed these principles by watching a ton of
film from our toughest opponents last season and asking myself,
“What do I want us to do when he does that?”
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Chapter 5: Teaching Block DestructionUsing the Rip Technique
ne of the hardest things for young Linebackers to do is to
defeat a block. After a lot of thought, I decided to change the
way I taught block destruction.
OIn theory, block destruction is best done with the hands. I haven't
seen many linebackers who could actually defeat a block,consistently, the way that I wanted to see it done though.
The Old WayI don't want to cheat you on options, so I will talk about how we
previously taught block destruction first. On paper, this should be
the best way to get the job done. We would attack the shoulder of the blocker, if were on the ball side (play side) of the blocker. In
other words, if the Linebacker was already on the right side of the
blocker, he took the half-man advantage.
1. Step with the inside foot on the crotch of the blocker.
2. Strike with this inside hand.
3. Drive up through the man and explode the hips.
4. Step through with the outside hip, rip with the inside arm and
leg to get to the hip of the blocker.
5. Get into a good football position and prepare to make the
tackle or redirect.
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As I have mentioned, when we get to the hip of the blocker, we
have him beaten. On paper it works, and it should work perfectly. Inpractice, we only saw it work properly a handful of times. That may
be a result of my coaching, but the fact is that it wasn't working.
Rip Through The way I have seen our players successfully defeat a block is to
just rip past the blocker. We have always taught the rip technique,particularly on pass rush, but I have seen it be more effective in
defeating run blocking linemen as well.
Teaching the rip technique is as follows:
1. Drop the hips and get below the blocker's shoulder pads.
2. Step simultaneously past the blockers hip and dip and rip the
shoulder. Teach the backers to scrape the ground with their
hand and punch the sky – exaggeration in the teaching is key.
They will want to make a short punching motion for the rip, but
that is not enough against good blockers.
3. Clear the blocker with the rip and bring the outside foot
through.
4. Get into a good football position and prepare to make the
tackle or redirect.
This is not revolutionary teaching by any means. We have all been
taught, and taught our players, the rip technique. But that means
you will be cutting down even more time from your block
destruction teaching.
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My old way of teaching was probably more fundamentally sound,
but rarely were we able to put it into use in practice.
On the Wrong SideIf we are on the wrong side of the blocker, we are still going to rip
the block. We will either have to undercut the blocker or cross face.
That will take some teaching and experience for your players to
understand. Your Linebackers should be able to use their speed andquickness advantage on bigger Offensive Linemen to gain an
advantage here.
What is important is that you do not allow a linebacker to run
around a block, but instead attack the blocker. We cannot afford to
lose that precious ground.
Even if we attempt to rip across the face of the blocker and do not
make a successful block destruct, we can still affect the play. We
can take out the blocker, change the path of the ball carrier, and
make it possible for someone else to get there. Running around the
blocker just helps clear the obvious path for the runner.
If we are already on the wrong side, the blocker has the angle on us
anyway – we should lose that battle if we are playing against a good
football team. We just need to do our best to get on the right side,
or at least muck up the situation.
The End ResultWe are teaching our players a simpler, more aggressive, less
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thought-provoking way of defeating blocks. That change has
promoted action in our players.
When your linebackers see a blocker approaching, you want them
to be in an attack mindset, not concerned about perfect technique.
There is a slight trade-off in effectiveness if both techniques are
executed correctly . But my experience is that the rip move will be
executed more often, and more correctly, than teaching a more
complicated method of block destruction.
It is important to point out that while this technique is simpler, there
is no added safety risk involved. In teaching tackling, we are
particular and consume a great deal of time in teaching a complex
technique, because of the inherent safety issues in tackling with
improper form.
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Chapter 6: How to Teach Tackling to Your Linebackers (...or anyone else!)
few years ago, I started teaching tackling differently. The
significant difference is in where we started teaching. In the
past, we always taught the finish of the tackle first. We would start
from a fit position and finish the tackle, then start working
backwards.
A
Our change has been to start teaching the approach to the tackle
first. After all, if any decent athlete can get close enough to be in
the fit position, he can finish the tackle. If the approach is right, we
will get the ball carrier down.
As always when teaching tackling, the emphasis must be on proper
form and safety . Never allow your players to drop their headswithout being corrected. I have kept excellent football players on
the bench, because they continually dropped their head in tackling.
The thrill of victory is not worth the agony of a visit to the hospital,
or worse.
Shimmy PointWe start teaching tackling by having your players partner up and
stand side by side on a line. One partner steps off 3 steps. It is
important that he take his natural, normal steps. The players will
not end up side by side after they step off, because each player's
shimmy point is going to be different and appropriate for him.
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The players turn, face, and get into a good football position. From
here, we start to teach tackling:
1. Butt down, chest up, in a good hitting position. Our head is up
and the neck is bowed. We teach to show your jersey number
to the ball carrier, with hands in the 'holsters', by your hips –
never cocked back behind.
2. Lead with one foot up, then the other. The near foot to the ball
carrier will always be up. If we start with the right foot up, the
right foot will stay up the entire time in our shimmy point area.
3. The shimmy down is when we are within this three step range
of the ball carrier. We take short, choppy steps with the lead
foot always being up in front, until the lead foot splits the
crotch of the ball carrier.
4. At the end of the shimmy down, the tackler has his face mask
in the chest of the ball carrier. We tell him to have his eyes in
the “V of the Neck” which puts his head in a safe position.
Note that we have not changed our body from the original hit
position. Our hips are at the same level and our hands are still
in the holsters.
5. Players should take note of where they start this portion of the
progression. The shimmy point is where they should always
start. The rest of the approach is all about how we get to the
shimmy point.
We stated at the beginning that if a football player can get to the fit
position, he should always make the tackle. Now we teach that if we
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can get to the shimmy point (a full 3 steps away from the fit
position), we should always make the tackle!
The Art of the Approach The only task left is to get to the shimmy point .
1. We start this drill with one partner taking his 3 steps to the
shimmy point. Early on, your players need to step this off
every time. After a few times through the drill, they should
know where their shimmy point is and stepping it off is less
important.
2. Once they get to the shimmy point, we take 5 more steps off.
3. On the start of the drill (coach command), players sprint to the
shimmy point, then shimmy down and finish the drill with their
eyes in the V of the Neck and hands in the holsters.
4. Increase the distance. We have the tackler take his three
steps, then 5 more. The ball carrier also takes five steps in the
opposite direction and jogs to the line as the tackler performs
his sprint to shimmy. This gets an understanding of how the
distance closes down on a moving target.
Approach AngleNow we add in teaching angles. As the drill progresses, we get
closer and closer to a real, game-like tackling situation.
1. We take our 3 steps, then 5 more steps, then we take 3 steps
to the right or to the left for the tackler. Start this drill by not
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having the ball carrier move from his initial point (we will have
him walk off later).
2. Sprint to the shimmy point. On an angle approach, the player
will need to square up at the shimmy point. He should not
reach the ball carrier at an angle, but square – in the same
way he approached in our first drill.
3. Shimmy down, finish with eyes in the V of the Neck, butt down,
hands in holsters.
4. Over time we can increase distance and angle.
Teaching the FinishIf you never teach the finish, your players will still make more
tackles than if they never learned to get to the fit position. How
many players miss the tackle when they get to that point? And how
many perfect finishes do you really see?
The last thing we teach is the finish:
1. We start the finish with our chin the chest, eyes in the V of the
Neck. The hands are in the holsters, with the up foot splitting
the crotch. Getting to this position will eliminate most missedtackles.
2. From this point, shoot the hands through the arm pits. We
emphasize “knifing” the hands through the ball, which can
create fumbles.
3. Explode the hips. No body is excited about this during mesh
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shorts practice, but we want to get, well, pecker to pecker on
the ball carrier.
4. Climb the body with the hands and grab high cloth – the two
most important teaching points with the finish. They need to
pinch the ball carrier off. It should look like double underhooks
for a wrestler.
5. Run the knees high and wide through the tackle. Keep the feet
moving. With knees high and wide, outside the frame of the
ball carrier, we are preventing his ability to spin out of the
tackle.
6. Run the ball carrier to the whistle – about 5 steps or so. The
command here is “Feet! Feet! Feet!” This reminds the tackler
to run his feet through the tackle.
Do Not Rush Tackling! Take your time teaching tackling. Be organized in teaching tackling
progression and do not schedule a 5 minute tackling session on the
first day of contact. Schedule a much longer period, to properly
teach how to tackle.
You are not only helping your defense by teaching proper tackling
technique, but you could be saving a young player's life. Prepare to
spend 15 – 30 minutes on tackling in your early practices.
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Chapter 7: Linebacker DrillDescriptions
n this chapter we will feature a large number of Linebacker drills
which we have used in the past. We do not use every drill every
day, and some drills are either no longer used or only used for
certain situations.
I
The purpose here is to give you a number of ideas for drills, not onlyone's that we have used but how you could create your own drills.
When you are designing football drills, first think of what you want
your players to do.
What will they see? How do you want them to react to what they
see? Then create drills that recreate their situation on the field. All
drills should be applicable to what players will be asked to do in agame.
Stance & Footwork Drills1. Stance & Read Step: Good stance, back flat with eyes up and
Z in the lower body. One 6-inch read step with direction of
initial step of ball carrier.
2. Skim the Trash (Bag Drills)
1. One-Foot
2. Two-Foot
3. Shuffle
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4. Shuffle / Spin
5. Shuffle / Reverse Spin
6. Slide / Weave
7. Backpedal / Sprint
8. Cone Pick-Up: Backpedal / Sprint, pick up cones as you
come through and set down to keep body position low.
3. Shuffle: Push front knee out, slide back foot laterally, never letback foot cross over front foot.
4. Lateral Run: Cross back foot over front foot, running to the
side when needing to catch up to ball carrier. Keep shoulders
square and eyes up.
5. Mirror / Slide: Slide to keep in phase (on inside pec) of a ball
carrier. Lateral Run if you need to catch up. Ball carrier
speeds up & slows down
6. Mirror / Slide – Score: Slide to keep in phase with ball carrier
moving back and forth between bags 5 yards apart. Ball
carrier tries to get across the line.
7. Mirror / Slide – Fill: Same as Mirror Slide, 10 yards apart withfit tackle at end.
8. Counter / Shuffle: Initial read step, flow goes away from you,
counter step and shuffle in direction of play. Do not cross
center until ball declares.
9. Around the Bag: Bag laid between two player. Ball carrier
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steps to one side, defensive man steps up to meet and shoots
hands into chest, steps back and BC steps to other side. Onthird time, finish with fit tackle.
10. Give a Step: To work footwork avoiding cut blocks and
obstacles, lateral run to bag, throw feet back to get around
bag, get back into lateral run – over two bags.
11. In – At – Out : To teach footwork for approach on run fits
and counter / shuffle. Two Linebackers, ball carrier chooses to
run to any hole on cones laid out. Playside backer calls In, At,
or Out and fits into tackle. Backside player counter / shuffles
until ball declares.
Block Destruct
1. Hit-Hit-Hit : Across from bag/sled/man. Align on left shoulder,
slide step and sting with hands, slide step off on hit command.
Second hit , slide & sting back to the left. Third hit, slide right,
sting and rip off
2. Shock & Shed: Vs. Bag/sled/man, attack from 3 yard distance,
shoot inside hand into sternum and use outside hand to control
blocker. Rip off past blocker.
3. Read & Separate: From head up fit position, offensive man
already engaged. Fight hands off and read to ball carrier
behind, rip off to play side.
4. Iso Destruct : Take on Iso block from ball carrier to his inside
pec, attack blocker and drive him back into hole, force ball
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carrier to bounce outside.
5. Defeat the Cut : Slide and defeat cut block by striking helmet
with hands, kicking legs back to get around, regain body
position.
Tackling1. Shoots: Align straight across from ball carrier, three steps
apart. Shimmy tackle ball carrier and finish to whistle.
2. Eye Opener : 4 bags set up, ball carrier on one side and LB on
the other. Ball carrier runs to hole of his choice and turns up,
LB slides to keep in phase, approach and shimmy tackle on
ball carrier.
3. Angle Tackle / 1-Cut : Ball carrier runs at cone at 45 degree
angle, LB takes proper approach angle to finish with shimmy
tackle on ball carrier. Add in 1-cut for ball carrier to increase
difficulty.
4. Profile Tackle: Three cones, ball carrier runs laterally to one
cone, Defender takes best angle and runs through to execute
profile tackle.
5. Open Field Tackle: Align defender and ball carrier 5 yards from
LB, must execute open field tackle. Key is to get the ball
carrier down, does not need to be pretty. Expand to 7, 10
yards.
6. Shed & Tackle: Align 3 yards from blocker, 1 yard outside. Ball
Carrier 5 yards behind. On "GO!" command, LB defeats the
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block by shooting inside hand into sternum, controlling with
outside hand and ripping off. Ball carrier runs to LB side, finishwith fit-tackle. Blocker must give a strong effort!
7. Cut / Tackle: 3 cones, ball carrier begins running laterally with
defender straight across. A cut man is in the middle of the
triangle, dives out to cut defender as he approaches. Defeat
the cut block and get off to make angle tackle.
Turnovers1. 2-Man Fit & Rip: Ball carrier holds ball in left hand, across from
2 defenders stacked behind eachother, 3 yards away. First
defender fits into non-ball side and wraps up BC, second
defender lifts and separates elbow/point from body and
punches through the football to create a fumble, then scoopsthe ball. Make sure to recover the fumble with full effort!
Switch ball carrier hand second time through.
2. Chase & Club: Ball carrier with back to defender, 5 yards in
front, ball in right hand. Runs out at 80%, defender chases
him down, secures tackle with off-ball hand, clubs over the
ball-side arm to knock the ball out and recover the fumble with
maximum effort. Don't be soft!
3. Chase & Punch: Same as Chase & Club, but this time punch
through the armpit of the ball carrier to knock the ball out,
chase it down and recover.
4. Scoop & Score: LB fits into blocker, coach bounces a ball on
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the ground for a fumble. Shed the blocker, scoop the ball and
sprint 5 yards for the score. Get the hips down, scoop handsunder the ball like a bulldozer. At least push it backward if not
scooped for the score.
5. Tip Drill: Coach aligns ten yards from 2 defenders, stacked
behind eachother. First defender sprints out, coach throws ball
high. First defender tips it up in the air, second defender
tracks it and catches the ball at the highest point. Tuck theball and get up the sideline, first defender is sprinting to block
for him.
Pass Coverage1. Pass Read & React : Working against routes by most
dangerous receiver. Align a receiver outside of LB, LBidentifies as most dangerous. Snap of the ball, LB takes read
step, identifies Pass and snaps head around to most
dangerous, sprints to his upfield hip immediately. Use all
routes we may see. Play through the receiver to the ball. Add
second receiver and vary routes. Include walling crossers and
"In! In!" call.
1. Drop on Out
2. Drop on Vertical
3. Drop & Redirect Crosser
4. Drop & Break to Flare
5. Drop & Chase
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2. Man Coverage vs. Back : Cover back out of the backfield in
man coverage. Do not chase into flare zone, but keepleverage. Use 2 backers with 2 backs splitting routes in
opposite directions. Stay with inside leverage on upfield hip of
back.
3. Bootleg: Stopping the bootleg pass, two backers aligned.
Backfield gives boot action, when QB boots, playside backer
attacks immediately to contain QB, backside LB adjusts drop tobootleg side. Recognize quickly, and playside must get
outside leverage on QB.
Pass Rush1. Active Hands Moves: LB is one yard from blocker in good body
position, steps and works pass rush move to 2 yards pastblocker. We will give players numerous options on pass rush
moves, in this drill they should experiment and find one or two
that work best, then focus in on those moves. We are active
hands, constantly working past the defender and resetting.
2. Finishing Footwork : Start at hip of offensive lineman, after you
have beaten him with a pass rush move. Finishing footwork to
get to QB is to plant outside foot and drive inside foot,
dropping elbow across the back of the OL to maintain position.
Alternate footwork : Caraoke step
3. Moves vs. Bags: Practicing blitz approach, working on getting
into position for the move. Blitz from 5 yards away, coming
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under control in close to bag and using rip/swim move to get
by the bag, then using finishing footwork to get past and get toQB (bag).
4. Get Skinny: Blitz technique to split offensive linemen. Drop
outside shoulder to make your body as skinny as possible and
split the two offensive linemen to make a space. Run your feet
through and do not slow down until you clear the heels of the
linemen. Use active hands to separate from linemen. Finishby getting to QB (bag).
5. 1-on-1 Blitz : Attacking offensive lineman or blocking back,
working pass rush moves live against blocker with finishing
footwork to get to QB (bag).
6. 2-on-1 Blitz : Attacking two offensive lineman. Must either get
skinny to get past, or pick out one lineman and shock and
shed, to defeat the offensive line and get to the QB (bag) with
finishing footwork.
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Chapter 8: Film Study Worksheetf it is available to you, film study can be a major key to building
successful linebackers. Reads and keys are all about anticipating
what the opponent will do next. The ability to see how your
opponent moves on film, what they do and what it means, are going
to only help to speed up your Linebackers and get themto the point
of attack, faster.
I
This is a worksheet that we have given to players, to keep with
them as they watch film throughout the week. The addition of
Hudl.com allows our players to study the opponent's film from
home.
We have, at times, required players to turn in a completed film
study sheet, or to complete a quiz on the most importantinformation they should learn from those sheets, each week.
These sheets are not comprehensive, only what is most pertinent to
our defense. You may find other points of study more important for
your linebackers.
Tape Study Objectives1. Film study helps us recognize the offensive play before the
offense can get going. We can anticipate, react faster, and be
more confident and explosive in our play. Film study of the
opponent is a crucial tool in our game week preparation.
2. Study the action of your primary key (near back). Know how
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his actions differ from play to play. Learn his abilities and his
techniques.
3. Examine the secondary key (Offensive Line). Recognize how
their actions can take you to the play.
4. Pay attention to how other Linebackers handled this opponent.
Don't be a fan watching the game, study how other players in
your position have successfully defended this opponent, and
learn from the mistakes they have made.
5. Take every opportunity to study film. You can never look at too
much of the opponent!
PreparationPay attention to the situation on each play, just as you would in a
game. Recognize the field position, down & distance, formation,
and personnel on each snap. Take them into consideration before
every play, because these are being taken into consideration by the
opponent's offense on every play (as well as our defense). Mentally
make all calls and communicate everything that you normally would
during the play.
1. What are the runs that are intended to hit directly in your
gap?
2. On hard flow away, where is the cutback going to hit?
3. On what plays does the Offensive Guard pull inside?
4. On what plays does the Offensive Guard or Tackle pull
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outside?
5. What plays are most common out of 2-Back sets?
6. What does this team do out of Shotgun formations?
7. What are the favorite route combinations that this team
uses?
8. How does this team use screen plays?
9. What is the role of the backs in the passing game?
1. What routes does he run?
2. How good is his pass blocking?
10. How does this team react to situations:
1. 3rd & Long
2. Red Zone
3. 2-Minute Offense
4. After a Turnover
5. On the Goal Line?
6. After a big defensive play (sack, Interception,
fumble)
11. What does the back do on play action?
12. How does the running back hold the football?
13. What read steps is the running back going to give
you?
14. Does the offense use any special personnel
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packages? What are they doing out of them?
15. How does the offense handle inside blitzes? Edge
blitzes?
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Chapter 9: Creatures of Habitn extremely important part of coaching today, is having our
players understand why we ask them to do things we ask of
them. When we ask them to pay attention to details, to be
relentless in the pursuit of perfection, to be punctual and to be
eager to learn and improve, they should know the purpose.
A
The ultimate purpose is to build men of character, who will besuccessful as linebackers, on the football field, in the classroom,
and in life. But why all of the repetition? Should one time not be
enough to ingrain these qualities?
Humans are creatures of habit, who perform activities not because
they are the right thing to do, but because they are what we have
always done. Football coaches put in long, strenuous hours toreinforce good habits, and correct bad habits.
What follows is to be presented to your players, so that they will
have better understand of why we work so hard on forming their
habits.
Why are Habits so Important?Human beings are creatures of habit. We have both good and bad
habits. Some of those habits were formed on purpose, while others
we are not even aware of.
• Good habits can help you reach your maximum potential
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• Bad habits can result in failures and frustration
• You have to work at developing good habits, and breaking bad
habits, to be successful at Ellsworth College.
How to Create Good Habits• By performing an action over and over again, we can create a
habit. To create the right habits, we identify habits we need to
be successful, and then repeat the action over and over again.
• Reps! Reps! Reps! We need as many reps at full speed and
game-like intensity in order to create habits that will make us
successful at game time.
• Any habits, good or bad, will show up on the biggest stages. If
we do not fix our bad habits, they will show up when times get
tough.
Breaking Bad Habits• You may have many bad habits that are already formed. We
have to break those bad habits and replace them with good
habits.
• Be Coachable! Accept criticism of bad habits and have a
burning desire to fix those habits and replace them with good
habits.
• Bad habits cannot be broken without replacing them with a
good habit.
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• Both good and bad habits are hard to break. They are part of
our inner fabric. It will take hard work and commitment tobecome the best player, student, and person you can be.
Habits off the Field• You need to create good habits off the field as well as on the
field.
• Attend class every day. Be sure to communicate with your
teachers whenever you need help.
• Set daily study time for each class and be consistent in your
work.
• Keep your work and schedule organized. Do not miss due
dates, deadlines, or meetings for any reason!
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Chapter 10: Building a CompleteLinebacker
his manual is by no means a complete guide to creating the
perfect Linebacker. For one, it does not take into account your
specific system, situation or coaching style. For that, you are on
your own to discover what is best for you and your team.
T
In addition, we have not even touched some of the more peripheralaspects of playing Linebacker. These include techniques like how to
blitz, how to drop into zone coverage, teaching proper footwork,
playing man coverage and more.
Resources
Many of theses techniques are up to your own unique system, whileothers are more specific. You can find guidance on these matters by
visiting Football-Defense.com.
Purchasing a membership to Football-Defense.com will give you
access to over 250 articles on coaching defensive football.
For more information on specific schemes and techniques, view
these materials:
Coaching Football's 4-2-5 Defense
Installing Football's 4-3 Over Defensive Front
Dominating Football Defense with the Zone Blitz
The Complete Guide to Defending the Spread Offense
49
7/14/2019 Position Perfection Linebacker Manual
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/position-perfection-linebacker-manual 50/50
Position Perfection: The LinebackerManual
And for a plethora of information on all defenses including the 3-4,
3-3-5, 4-3, 4-2-5, 46 Bear, Double Eagle Flex, monthly Online ClinicSessions, and more, try a membership to Football-Defense.com.