Linebacker Play In A 50 Defense

F

irst, let me say that it is an honor for me to be able to speak with you tonight. I would like to thank the AFCA for the Assistant Coach of the Year Award and also for this opportunity to speak at this convention. An award like this is especially meaningful when your peers present it. With the short period of time that I have been allotted for this presentation, it is difficult to talk about defensive schemes. So I would like to share some thoughts about defense in general and also some thoughts about linebacker play in our scheme. First, it is helpful if you understand something about me. I have had the good fortune of coaching for 20 years at an institution that has had 40 winning football seasons in a row. I believe that the only way to win on a consistent basis is to play great defense. I will show you a chart of our conference defensive statistics for the last 16 years. I believe the chart shows some correlation between playing good defense and winning conference championships (See chart below). Over the last 20 years I have had the opportunity to coach in more than 200 football games and have observed several hundred more. There are five characteristics of great defensive football teams that I think exist at any level of football. I believe that you must coach your players in these five areas if you are going to be a successful defensive team. 1. Team Defense Every player on the field must know his assignment, do his assignment and realize that there are 10 other players that are depending on him to fulfill his responsibility on any play.

Linebacker Play in a 50 Defense

2. Aggressive Defense Every player must be aggressive in car rying out his assignments and techniques on every play. The defense must be the aggressor in all one-on-one situations with the offensive player. The defensive player cannot afford to stay back and wait for something to happen. 3. Understand the Importance of Field Position The first goal on any defensive series is to prevent a score, but the players need to understand that field position can be the difference in any tight football game. Third down must be important, and the defense needs to win the third down battle twothirds of the time in order to be successful. 4. Pursuit Running to the football is critical to the success of the defense. Every player on the field must understand that he needs to be where the ball is when the whistle blows at the end of the play. How well your football team pursues the football will have a greater impact on your success than any other technique or fundamental.

Don DeWaard 5. Great Tackling If a player does everything else well, but isn’t a good tackler, he will not help you on defense. Every defender on the field must be a good tackler for the defense to be successful. Those are five areas that I believe you as a coach must emphasize to your defensive players in order to have a great defense. I would like to spend some time talking about linebacker play. In our scheme, when I talk about linebackers, I am talking about

Defensive Coordinator

Central College Defense YEAR 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

POINTS ALLOWED 58 47 72 78 83 68 94 65 66 35 147 119 142 128 73 149

PER GAME AVERAGE 7.3 5.9 9.0 9.8 10.4 8.5 11.8 8.1 8.3 4.4 18.4 14.9 14.2 12.8 7.3 14.9

CONF. RANK 1ST 1ST 1ST 1ST 1ST 1ST 1ST 1ST 2ND 1ST 1ST 1ST 1ST 1ST 1ST 2ND

PER GAME YARDS 191.7 186.4 188.3 182.3 229.9 235.8 215.4 186.9 234.0 180.5 291.6 279.5 281.6 260.4 227.1 271.9

CONF. RANK 1ST 1ST 1ST 1ST 1ST 2ND 1ST 1ST 2ND 1ST 1ST 1ST 3RD 2ND 1ST 3RD

CONF. FINISH 1ST 1ST 2ND 1ST 1ST 2ND 1ST 2ND 1ST 1ST 2ND 2ND 1ST 2ND 1ST 1ST

• Proceedings • 79th AFCA Convention • 2002 •

Central College Pella, Iowa

inside backers that normally line up inside the offensive tackles. I will start with these fundamentals. Stance I have learned over the years that it is more important to help your players break bad habits in their stance, than try to get them in the perfect stance on every play. Don’t allow your players to start the play in a position that prevents them from reacting to anything that the offense attempts to do to them. Keys and Key Reaction Whether you key linemen or backs depends on what the offense you are playing against is doing. Our keys will change from week to week but the important thing is to help your players understand what the offense is trying to do to them. Block Protection I believe very strongly that any defensive player must get their hands in the game as soon as possible. The key to block protection is creating separation from the blocker as soon as possible because the defense does not have any time to waste once the ball is snapped. These are the linebacker techniques that I teach. Read This technique is used when we are aligned on an open lineman. The key in this technique is to recognize the type of block that the lineman is trying to use and then react appropriately. Scrape We use this technique when our gap assignment is either inside or outside of our alignment. The keys to this technique are to attack the gap as quickly as possible by not taking extra steps to get there, and to attack the inside of the gap if you are going outside and the outside of the gap if you are going inside. Shuffle This technique is used by the backside linebacker when the ball flow is away. It is important to maintain depth and also a good cutback relationship on the football when using this technique. Shoot This technique is used when our gap

responsibility is right in front of us and the gap is threatened. It is important to attack as soon as the read is made and also to attack inside out.

line as long as possible. Staying square allows the defenders to move in any direction, thereby having the ability to cover more ground.

Pass Drop Getting depth as quickly as possible by turning the hips and running is important, as well as keeping the head moving back and forth in order to read not only patterns, but also the quarterback. I would like to take a few moments to discuss some coaching points that I feel are important for the linebacker position. These are some general points about linebacker play that I believe are important for linebackers to know and understand.

7. Never Stay Blocked Everyone is going to get blocked sometime throughout the course of the game. The key is to not stay blocked.

1. Understand the Defense I believe it is very important for linebackers to not only know their assignment but to also understand the entire defensive scheme and philosophy. They need to understand the strength and weaknesses of all the defensive calls. 2. Be an On-The-Field Leader Linebackers must be the quarterback of your defense. They need to call signals, talk situations and be an on-the-field coach. 3. Recognize Formation and Communicate One of the most important aspects of playing good defense is learning as much about the offense presnap as possible. Linebackers need to be leaders in this area and communicate it to their teammates. 4. Know the Situation and Communicate Any defense will be better prepared on a given play if they understand the situation (down, distance & field position). It is up to the linebackers to be aware of the on field situation and communicate it to their teammates. 5. Attack the Line of Scrimmage on Running Plays Linebackers always need to be in the attack mode if the line of scrimmage is threatened in their area of responsibility. We need to meet blockers at two yards of depth, not four.

8. Do Not Over Pursue Linebackers must always keep a good cutback relationship on the football when they are in pursuit. Keeping the football between themselves and the sidelines allows them to always be in a position to make the tackle. Over the years at Central, we have been successful on defense because we have always had linebackers that are able to play defense sideline to sideline. The ability of the linebackers to shed blocks and run to the ball are critical to the success of a 52 defense. We have not always had tremendous speed at linebacker but we have been able to teach our linebackers to play up and down the line of scrimmage. We spend a lot of time in our individual drills doing footwork using bags and ball movement. Teaching linebackers’ pursuit angles is another very effective way to assist them in getting to the football quicker. I would again like to thank the AFCA for this opportunity to share some thoughts about defense and linebacker play. It has been a very enjoyable experience for me.

Improve Your Professional Image Ask your sports information director to include your membership and involvement in the American Football Coaches Association in your bio in the school’s annual media guide.

6. Keep Shoulders Square to the Line of Scrimmage All defenders need to stay parallel to the

• Proceedings • 79th AFCA Convention • 2002 •