MAN TO MAN DEFENSE AND RUN FORCE

One of the most important areas for any coach to consider as he designs his defensive package is the area of run force and its coordination with the type of pass coverage that he will be using. It was our belief that we had to have two different run force packages. One would be incorporated with our varying types of zone coverage. The other would be incorporated with our man to man and blitz defense packages. In this clinic summary we will look at the coordination of our run force with our man to man pass coverage.

CLINIC SUMMARY

It became very important to our defensive scheme that we make force calls to each side of the defense on every play regardless of the coverage we were going to use or the personnel that we had in the game.

CALLS DEFINE RESPONSIBILITY

In designing our run force with our man to man pass defense, we wanted our players to understand that any run force call that might be made would be subject to change based upon the release of one or more eligible receivers into the pass pattern. With one word, we wanted the following to be defined and understood by the members of our defensive team.

First, it would tell which player had the primary responsibility for containing the run to his side. Incorporated with this responsibility would be the teaching of how the contain man would take on any lead blocker.

Next, the call would designate how our coverage responsibility would change based on the blocking of the offensive players.

Finally, it would clearly define the responsibilities of how we would play the option. With this we would teach who had pitch and who was responsible for playing the quarterback.

MAKING THE CALLS

Each safety has the responsibility to make the proper force call to his side. Force calls would be determined and influenced by the type of man to man defense called, the offensive personnel in the game, the offensive formation being used, our scouting report, and by the down and distance situation.

PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE FORCE CALL

Each force call that we made in our man to man pass defense packages could involve the following four defensive players on each side of our defense. In addition to the corner, safety and outside linebacker on each side , the defensive end also had to understand that he could become involved in the run contain responsibility.

It was important that each player understand that the key to our run force in man to man pass defense will come with a block by an offensive player who the defender has in coverage.

MAN TO MAN CALLS TO BE USED

With our man to man pass defenses we used four basic calls to designate our run force responsibility. Our calls were:

Cathy - Call which designated the corner as the force man. A block by either offensive receiver in a wing set or by a weak tight end would cause the corner to force and release by these receivers would cause the force to be off.

Storm - Call which designated the safety as the force man. A block by the tight end will cause the safety to force and a release will cause the force to be off.

Billy - Call which designated the outside linebacker as the force man. A block by the near back will cause the outside linebacker to force and a release will cause the force to be off.
Easy - Call which designated the defensive end as the force man to his side.