ByCoach Martin|Football Positions
The defensive line consists of the “big boys” upfront.
These are players who line up right at the line of scrimmage, directly across the offensive linemen.
Defensive linemen are the defenders closest to the ball and are responsible for clogging up holes along the line of scrimmage.
Click Here to Read This Post
ByCoach Martin|Football Basics
An important concept to understand in football is what’s referred to as downs.
Whenever you watch a game of football or play it, you will hear each play referred to as a “down.”
This could be in the form of “first down and 10 yards to go” or, more commonly, first-and-10.
Click Here to Read This Post
ByCoach Martin|Football Basics
In football, offenses try to advance the ball downfield as far as possible so that they can score points.
Scoring in football can be in many different forms, but the offense usually does so by either scoring a touchdown or kicking a field goal.
There are times, though, when they fall short of being able to score, and end up punting the ball away on fourth down.
Offenses do this so that they don’t risk getting back up too far and handing the ball over to the other team deep in their own zone.
Click Here to Read This Post
ByCoach Martin|Football Positions
The offensive line is one of the most crucial personnel groupings in all of football.
The “big men” upfront have a huge effect on every offensive play in a game.
They are responsible for protecting the quarterback on passing plays, and for opening up huge holes in the running game so ball carriers can find daylight.
Click Here to Read This Post
ByCoach Martin|Football Basics
There are many different tactics that defenders can use to shed blockers and make their way into open space.
One of the most popular methods of doing so for defensive linemen is the Swim Move.
With this technique, the defender will actually do one thing that goes against some logic when it comes to football — they will be, in a way, going over the top of their blocker rather than staying low the entire time.
Click Here to Read This Post
ByCoach Martin|Football Basics
If you’ve ever played the game of football – or watched one closely enough – you’ve probably heard the quarterback run through what seems like a rehearsed set of lines before every play.
That cadence will go something like this:
“Down. Blue 85. Blue 85. Ready. Hike!”
On the word “hike,” the center will snap the ball to the quarterback and the play will begin.
Click Here to Read This Post
ByCoach Martin|Football Basics
Naming conventions are common in football, as coaches look for ways to quickly identify various things during fast-paced games.
One of the common naming conventions that is the personnel grouping.
These groupings refer to how many players at each position are on the field for a particular play on offense.
Click Here to Read This Post
ByCoach Martin|Football Basics
Football coaches have come up with naming conventions for just about everything in the game to make things easier to understand on the fly.
By simply calling out a few numbers or a few words, they can accurately and effectively help themselves and everyone else understand a certain situation.
One example of this is the naming convention used to identify positions on the field on offense — generally referred to as personnel groupings.
Click Here to Read This Post
ByCoach Martin|Football Basics
Football coaches need a way to quickly identify a package of players on the field.
These personnel groupings are important for the offense and the defense, as it allows each to set up the plays they’ll run in a game.
As such, coaches gave personnel groupings certain naming mechanisms based around numbers.
Click Here to Read This Post
ByCoach Martin|Football Positions
Kickers in football don’t get a lot of attention and notoriety — until they make a mistake or win a game with their leg.
This doesn’t mean they’re not important, though — in fact, it’s quite the opposite.
Kickers are so important to the game of football that one simple mistake on their part can turn a game around in the wrong direction.
Click Here to Read This Post