By Coach Martin | Football Basics
Understanding the many different football routes is important for every player and coach. On any given play, each receiver on the field will be asked to run a specific route to attack the different levels of the defense, and to keep the defenders off balance. But let’s first start with the basics… What is the “Route Tree”?Every pass […]
Click Here to Read This Post
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 […]
Click Here to Read This Post
By Coach Martin | Football Basics
No football team likes to stall and not make a first down. No football team likes to have to punt the football away to the other team. However, punting a football is one of the most important (yet over-overlooked) parts of the game that can swing the score one way or the other. But before we get into […]
Click Here to Read This Post
By Coach Martin | Football Basics
Being a quarterback in football is not as simple as picking up a ball and heaving it downfield. The position requires years of practice – from learning how to set players up in difficult offenses, to understanding how to read complex defenses. But let’s start with the basics: Learning “exactly” how to throw a football. Because trust me… it’s […]
Click Here to Read This Post
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 […]
Click Here to Read This Post
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 […]
Click Here to Read This Post
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 […]
Click Here to Read This Post
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 […]
Click Here to Read This Post
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 […]
Click Here to Read This Post
By Coach Martin | Football Defense
There was a time in football where defenses would run a “base” formation on most plays, with wrinkles on the base system mostly performed in the secondary. Almost all defenses would have a base formation that included either: a. Four down linemen and three linebackers. b. Five down linemen and two linebackers (on obvious running situations). The wrinkles would […]
Click Here to Read This Post