3-5-3 Defense Football Coaching Guide (Includes Images)

By Coach Martin | Football Defense

Most defensive coaches are familiar with the two most popular base defenses – the 3-4 and the 4-3.

But for coaches looking for something a little different to optimize to a specific group of players or looking to keep offenses off-balance, a 3-5-3 defense might be a great option.

The 3-5-3 defensive alignment isn’t a formation that you see every day in football.

That’s mainly because it employs five linebackers on the field at all times, and requires the two Hybrid linebackers, as they’re called, to be very versatile – solid against the pass and the run.

Because of this fact, though, most offenses don’t know how to handle the 3-5-3 formation.

In this article, you’ll read about the basics of the 3-5-3 defense, its strengths and weaknesses, and a 3-step guide on how it’s run.

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The Jet Sweep Play for Youth Football Teams

By Coach Martin | Football Plays

The jet sweep is one of the best plays an offensive coach can teach his youth football team.

It helps younger players take advantage of the fact that they’re often undersized.

It gets the ball into your most talented players quickly, and it attacks the defense where it’s weakest — on the outside.

Most importantly, it’s a play that can result in big gains without being too difficult for players to understand.

Here’s an in-depth look into what the jet sweep is, the formations that it can be run out of, how to coach youth football players on it, and some example plays.

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12 Football Plays for Easy First Downs and Touchdowns

By Coach Martin | Football Plays

There are plenty of instances in football where the offense just needs to gain a few yards to get a first down or score a touchdown.

These crucial plays will often determine the outcome of the game.

That’s why coaches need to have some high-percentage plays in their playbook that they can call for these times.

The good news is that there are plenty of great plays that the offense can use to get this done.

In this article, you’ll read about some of the best short-yardage football plays for a few of the most common and popular offensive formations.

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Understanding the RPO in Football (Run-Pass Option)

By Coach Martin | Football Plays

The RPO is a play that gives the quarterback the option to either hand the ball off to a running back or make a quick pass to a receiver instead.

It’s a misdirection play that’s designed to keep defenders off balance, on their toes, and guessing on whether the play is a pass or a run.

So, here’s a closer look at what the RPO is, how it’s run, and three RPO plays with explanations on the quarteback’s reads.

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Defensive Line Techniques: 7 Moves You Must Know

By Coach Martin | Football Defense

Defensive line seems like one of the more straightforward positions on a football team.

They start the play at the line of scrimmage, and their job is to get into the backfield to disrupt the offense — in whatever way they can.

That’s their primary job.

But while their duties seem simple enough, how they’re successful in doing so is a little more complicated.

After all, they must constantly take on blocks with offensive linemen who have big bodies.

Defensive linemen have several techniques that they can use to combat the blocks from offensive linemen and still get into the backfield.

In this article, you’ll read about the different defensive line techniques, what types of players play each technique, and the 7 moves every defensive lineman should know.

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Football Training Equipment: 11 Items Every Coach Needs to Have

By Coach Martin | Football Equipment

Football coaches have many responsibilities to their players, teaching them skills and mindsets to keep on improving as athletes.

It’s not an easy job to do.

But with the help of training equipment, coaching becomes significantly easier.

In this article, you’ll find a list of the necessary training equipment every football coach needs to have, broken down by category of where they’ll most be useful.

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Prevent Defense Football Coaching Guide (Includes Images)

By Coach Martin | Football Defense

The prevent defense can be run by any team no matter what their base defensive formation looks like.

However, it should only be run in certain game situations in which the defensive team has a big lead late in the game.

If the prevent defense is run in the wrong game situation, it could result in doing nothing but preventing that team from closing out a win.

Let’s take a closer look at how the prevent defense is run and when it should be run.

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What Is a Blitz in Football? (Explained)

By Coach Martin | Football Strategies

Simply put, a blitz is a play call by a defense that’s designed to rush the quarterback with more defenders than there are blockers.

For example, if there are 5 blockers on an offensive play (the 5 offensive linemen), then a blitz would be a play that has 6 players rushing the quarterback.

It’s easy to understand, but it’s not so easy to execute it properly. There are also different types of blitzes as well as different reasons why you’d want to call a blitz.

Let’s take a closer look at why you’d want to run a blitz and what type of blitzes you can run.

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Cornerback Guide for Serious Football Players (Tips and Tricks)

By Coach Martin | Football Positions

Cornerback is one of the most important positions on a defense.

These players are often responsible for covering receivers all on their own. And if they don’t do their job properly, it can result in huge plays for the offense.

Let’s take a look at what makes up a great cornerback, from traits to roles and responsibilities, to tips for players who want to man the position.

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Safety Guide for Serious Football Players (Tips and Tricks)

By Coach Martin | Football Positions

Safeties have that rare combination of speed and coverage skill of traditional cornerbacks, with the strength, vision, and tackling ability of traditional linebackers.

For this reason, great safeties don’t come along every day.

If you want to be a great safety, you need to work hard on getting strong, building your speed, learning offenses, and making sure you’re a sound tackler.

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