Category Archives for "Football Defense"

Tampa 2 Defense (Coaching Guide With Images)

By Coach Martin | Football Defense

The Tampa 2 defense is a formation that is named appropriately for a specific team’s approach to defense.

Much like the “46 Defense” was named after the stout defense of the 1985 Chicago Bears, the Tampa 2 defense was named after the defense that the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers ran in the late 1990s.

Tampa head coach Tony Dungy and defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin created what is now known as the Tampa 2 defense as a way to modify the traditional Cover 2 defense for the West Coast Offense.

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5-2 Defense (Coaching Guide With Images)

By Coach Martin | Football Defense

In obvious running situations for the offense – when the down and distance is third-and-one let’s say – defenses often adjust by going to what’s called a “big” or “stack” formation. This brings extra bodies near the line of scrimmage to stop the run. One of the most popular defensive formations to do this out of is […]

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46 Defense (Coaching Guide With Images)

By Coach Martin | Football Defense

The 46 defense is perhaps the most famous alignment around. That’s because it’s associated with possibly the greatest defense in the history of the National Football League – the 1985 Chicago Bears. That team was a dominating force, with its defense helping to lead the team to a 15-1 record and a Super Bowl championship. The Bears’ defensive […]

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4-2-5 Defense (Coaching Guide With Images)

By Coach Martin | Football Defense

More than 10 years ago, the 4-2-5 defensive alignment was created as a wrinkle in defensive formations that caused opposing offenses a lot of headaches. It’s an alignment that attacks, attacks, and attacks some more with almost free will… Relying on players to use their instincts to make quick decisions instead of reading the full play and […]

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Cover 4 Defense (Coaching Guide With Images)

By Coach Martin | Football Defense

The Cover 4 defense is often referred to as the “Quarters” alignment, because each member of the secondary is responsible for a quarter of the field on the deep section. It’s a four-deep, three-under zone defense in which the three linebackers are responsible for splitting the underneath section of the field into threes. While the cornerbacks and […]

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Nickel Defense (Coaching Guide With Images)

By Coach Martin | Football Defense

There was a time in football when the Nickel defense was used only in particular situations. When the offense was in an obvious passing situation, defenses would respond by taking a strong-side linebacker off the field and replacing him with an extra defensive back. This gave them more speed and coverage ability against an offensive formation that […]

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Dime Defense (Coaching Guide With Images)

By Coach Martin | Football Defense

Question: “What should you do when your defense is facing an obvious passing situation where the offense needs to gain a significant amount of yards to gain a first down?” Or… “What should you do when the offense you are facing constantly runs a spread formation with four wide receivers on the field at the same time?” The answer […]

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Cover 3 Defense (Coaching Guide With Images)

By Coach Martin | Football Defense

The Cover 3 defense is one of the more popular zone-based defensive alignments in football. At one time, it was thought of as only a defense that youth football teams and teams at the high school level would utilize often in a game. However, that idea has changed dramatically over recent years. Especially with the Seattle Seahawks’ “Legion […]

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Cover 2 Defense (Coaching Guide With Images)

By Coach Martin | Football Defense

The Cover 2 defense is a zone-based defense in football. Which means no player has a defensive assignment for a specific offensive player. Each level of defense has a zone on the field for which they’re responsible for covering, and whatever receiver enters that zone on a passing route is that player’s responsibility. The Cover 2 defense gets […]

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4-3 Defense (Coaching Guide With Images)

By Coach Martin | Football Defense

The 4-3 defense is one of the most basic formations a coach can run. From youth football all the way up to the professional ranks, just about every team has some plays that are run out of the 4-3 formation. Many coaches choose to use this alignment because there are quite a few wrinkles and adjustments that […]

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