3-5-3 DEFENSIVE LINE TECHNIQUES AND DRILLS THOMAS COUSINS

1. 3-5-3DEFENSIVE LINE TECHNIQUES AND DRILLS THOMAS COUSINS aphsfootball@yahoo.com

2. IS THERE A DIFFERENCE? • IS THERE A DIFFERENCE IN COACHING LINEMEN IN THE 3-5-3 VS. THE 4-3? • WE FEEL THE ANSWER IS YES AND NO. aphsfootball@yahoo.com

3. NO • TACKLING, RUNNING AND BEING TOUGH SHOULD BE A PART OF ANY GOOD DEFENSE. • WE STILL READ BLOCKS, WE JUST DO IT ON THE RUN. aphsfootball@yahoo.com

4. YES • SINCE OUR LINEMEN NEVER TAKE ON AN OFFENSIVE LINEMAN HEAD UP WE NEED TO TEACH WHAT WE CALL “READING ON THE RUN.” • WE TEACH ATTACKING ½ A MAN WITH EITHER A RIP OR BY ATTACKING THE INSIDE CHEST PLATE • THE BIGGEST THING WE WORK ON IS FIGHTING PRESSURE WITH PRESSURE AND NOT GETTING WASHED UP FIELD. aphsfootball@yahoo.com

5. ESSENTIALS OF DEFENSIVE LINE PLAY • 1. GET OFF- YOU MUST EXPLODE OFF THE BALL AND CROSS THE FACE OF THE MAN YOU ARE LINED UP FROM. • 2. PURSUIT- WE STRESS RUN, RUN, RUN. • 3. TACKLING- WORK SOME ASPECT OF TACKLING EVERYDAY. aphsfootball@yahoo.com

6. What do we want to accomplish? • We want to make our defensive lineman more productive in the areas of tackling, pressure and pursuit. • We want to run drills that are specific to what we do. • If a drill is not football specific- don’t do it. • We want to put our defensive linemen in real-life, game type situations. aphsfootball@yahoo.com

7. DEFENSIVE LINE FUNDAMENTALS IN THE 3-5-3 • 1. ALIGNMENT • 2. STANCE • 3. SLANT/ STEPS • 4. ENGAGEMENT/ BLOW DELIVERY • 5. READ/ PRESSURE • 6. PURSUIT • 7. TACKLE aphsfootball@yahoo.com

8. ALIGNMENT • WE WILL WORK ALIGNMENT EVERYDAY. • WE WILL LINE UP THREE DIFFERENT WAYS WITH OUR TACKLES. • IN BASE THEY WILL HEAD UP • IN JET THEY WILL BE IN A WIDE 5 AND A WIDE 9 • IN GOALLINE THEY WILL BE IN 4 TECHNIQUES. aphsfootball@yahoo.com

9. ALIGNMENT BASE T N T TACKLES AND NOSE WILL BE HEAD UP AND AS TIGHT TO THE BALL AS POSSIBLE aphsfootball@yahoo.com

10. ALIGNMENT JET T N T TACKLES WILL BE JETTED 1 YARD OUTSIDE OF THE TACKLE AND TIGHT END. NOSE WILL BE HEAD UP AND AS TIGHT TO THE BALL AS POSSIBLE aphsfootball@yahoo.com

11. ALIGNMENT GOALLINE T N T TACKLES WILL BE IN 4 TECHNIQUES. NOSE WILL BE HEAD UP AND AS TIGHT TO THE BALL AS POSSIBLE aphsfootball@yahoo.com

12. STANCE • OUR STANCE IS A THREE POINT STANCE WITH FEET AS CLOSE TO PARALLEL AS POSSIBLE. • WEIGHT ON THE BALLS OF THE FEET, KNEES IN AND HEELS OFF THE GROUND • HEAD- TURN YOUR HEAD AND LOOK DOWN THE LOS AT THE BALL. • ARMS- FRONT ARM SHOULD BE WELL IN FRONT OF THE HEAD. FREE ARM IS COCKED BY THE FACEMASK READY TO STRIKE. • BACK- BUTT MUST BE HIGHER THAN HEAD. • WEIGHT- 60% OF WEIGHT IS ON FINGERTIPS. YOU ARE A “COILED SPRING” READY TO EXPLODE. • FEET SHOULD BE NO WIDER THAN SHOULDER WIDTH. • DL NEEDS TO BE ABLE TO STEP WITH EITHER FOOT- LEFT OR RIGHT. • HEAD IS TURNED LOOKING AT THE FOOTBALL aphsfootball@yahoo.com

13. SLANT/STEPS • GET OFF • INITIAL MOVEMENT MUST BE SIDEWAYS AND UP AT A 45% ANGLE. • LIKE A SPRINTER COMING OUT OF THE BLOCKS…CREATE FORCE. • BACK FLAT • NUMBERS OF YOUR JERSEY OVER YOUR KNEE. • BULL YOUR NECK. • AIM FOR THE HIP OF THE MAN YOU ARE SLANTING ACROSS. • FOLLOW QUICKLY WITH THE 2ND AND 3RD STEPS • STAY LOW AND MAINTAIN LIFT LEVERAGE. aphsfootball@yahoo.com

14. SLANT/STEPS DRILLS T N T VERY SIMPLE DRILL DONE WITH FLAT DUMMIES ON THE GROUND COACH GIVES A LINE CALL (IN, OUT, SLANT STRONG, SLANT WEAK, PINCH) AND A STRENGTH CALL. COACH SNAPS THE BALL AND LOOKS FOR FOOTWORK, EXPLOSION, FLAT BACK, AND ARM RIP IN GET OFF BY THE DEFENSIVE LINEMEN. aphsfootball@yahoo.com

15. ENGAGEMENT/ BLOW DELIVERY • DEFENSIVE LINEMEN MUST SHOOT OFF HAND ACROSS THE MAN HE IS SLANTING FROM. • WE ARE AIMING FOR THE HIP OF THE MAN WE ARE SLANTING TO. • WHEN WE MAKE CONTACT WITH THE OFFENSIVE LINEMAN WE EITHER FINISH OUR RIP OR IF WE GET STONED- BRING BOTH HANDS UP INTO ½ OF HIS CHESTPLATE, LIFT, CONTROL OUR GAP AND FIND THE BALL. • WE NEVER WANT TO GET MORE THAN 1 YARD UP THE FIELD. • IF WE EVER COME OFF UNBLOCKED WE TURN AND LOOK INSIDE. aphsfootball@yahoo.com

16. BLOW DELIVERY T N T THE MAIN DRILL WE USE TO TEACH BLOW DELIVERY IS A 3 POINT STEP AND RIP DRILL. DL ARE IN STANCE ACROSS FROM A PLAYER HOLDING A BAG ON BALL MOVEMENT THEY EXPLODE AND RIP THROUGH THE MAN ACROSS FROM THEM. COACH LOOKS FOR FOOTWORK, EXPLOSION, PROPER ARM RIP AND GETTING TO 1 YARD DEEP. aphsfootball@yahoo.com

17. Pressure drills • Get some. • Part of our hoop drills we do everyday. • The defensive lineman will run two hoops in a figure eight. • Around the first hoop- he will rip with his inside arm, against other players punching at him. • Around the second hoop he will rip with his other arm against other players punching him. • He will finish the drill by strip tackling a dummy. aphsfootball@yahoo.com

18. READ/ PRESSURE • WE WILL READ ON THE RUN- IF AN OFFENSIVE LINEMAN PRESSURES US WE WILL PRESSURE BACK BY EITHER CROSSING HIS FACE OR GOING BACKDOOR. • WE CANNOT GET WASHED UP THE FIELD, BY FIGHTING PRESSURE WITH PRESSURE AND NOT GETTING MORE THAN 1 YARD UP THE FILED WE CAN ACCOMPLISH THIS. • IF WE SLANT AND OUR MAN TRIES TO CUT US OFF, WE WILL FLATTEN DOWN THE LOS AND PURSUE TO THE BALL. aphsfootball@yahoo.com

19. READ DRILLS- BACKDOOR • Backdoor • Purpose- to recreate when a defensive lineman is following a trapping offensive lineman or has ripped into a gap and feels pressure from a down block.. • The offensive lineman will fit on the DL’s hip who will then in turn go backdoor to make a tackle. aphsfootball@yahoo.com

20. Backdoor R Ol will fit up on the hip of a defensive lineman. The DL will grab the hip of the offensive lineman and go backdoor- pursuing flat down the line of scrimmage. T aphsfootball@yahoo.com

21. PURSUIT • WE MUST FIND THE BALL AND TAKE GOOD ANGLES TO INTERCEPT THE BALL CARRIER. • WE EXPECT 11 HATS TO THE BALL ON EVERY PLAY. YOU WILL NOT GET GOOD PURSUIT UNLESS YOU STRESS RUNNING TO THE BALL ON EVERY PLAY IN PRACTICE. • WE RUN EXTRA AFTER PRACTICE FOR “LOAFS”- NOT GETTING 11 PEOPLE TO THE BALL ON EVERY PLAY. • WE HAVE NEVER DONE PURSUIT DRILLS ALONE, WE INCORPORATE THEM INTO INSIDE, SKELLY, TEAM ETC. aphsfootball@yahoo.com

22. PURSUIT T N T THE MAIN DRILL WE USE TO TEACH PURSUIT IS THE FLOW DRILL ON BALL MOVEMENT DL WILL PERFORM A RIP TO ASSIGNED GAP WHEN THEY GET TO 1 YARD THE COACH WILL POINT TO THE RIGHT, LEFT OF UP FIELD. THE DL WILL PLANT AND HUSTLE THAT WAY. aphsfootball@yahoo.com

23. Pursuit drills • Rabbit • A hoop drill we do everyday • Two players will line up on a hoop. One player will get a three yard head start. • The two players will run a figure eight, if player two catches player one, the drill is over. aphsfootball@yahoo.com

24. Rabbit aphsfootball@yahoo.com

25. TACKLING • WE PRIDE OURSELVES IN NOT MISSING TACKLES. • WE WORK SOME ASPECT OF TACKLING EVERYDAY IN PRACTICE. • WE NEVER GO HALF SPEED DURING DEFENSIVE PRACTICE. WE ARE ALWAYS LIVE, NO DUMMIES, NO PADS, NO SHORTS MONDAY- THURSDAY. aphsfootball@yahoo.com

26. Tackling • We feel that there are 6 basic elements to every tackle. We work these 6 elements into every tackling drill we do. • Feet- never gather, always run through the target. • Eyes- always on numbers • Head placement- always up and across the ball. • Chest- lead with your chest not your head. • High cloth- throw arms up and around • Hip roll- act like you have a quarter in your cheeks and you don’t want it to fall out. aphsfootball@yahoo.com

27. Tackling drills • Slip Drill • Purpose: to recreate a defensive lineman slipping off an offensive lineman and making a tackle. • OL and DL will fit up as if the were engaged with a block. The running back will then run tight to either hip of the offensive lineman. The defensive lineman will have to create separation and find the ball carrier. aphsfootball@yahoo.com

28. ANGLE TACKLING T T THIS IS THE MAIN TACKLING DRILL OUR DL DOES THE DL LINES UP ACROSS FROM ANOTHER LINEMAN AND ON COMMAND RIPS BY THE OL -THE RUNNING BACK WILL RUN EITHER RIGHT OR LEFT NEXT TO THE OL. IF THE RUNNING BACK COMES TO THE SAME SIDE THE DL SLANTED TO THE DL PERFORMS A PROPER ANGLE TACKLE. IF THE RUNNINGBACK RUNS TO THE OPPOSITE SIDE THE DL SLANTED TO. HE MUST PLANT, FLOW BACK TO THE RUNNING BACK AND MAKE THE TACKLE. aphsfootball@yahoo.com

29. TACKLING DRILLS • Speed to burn • We will have two defensive ends in a jet- speed rush coming off each corner. • The defensive ends will have to speed rip by an offensive lineman and strip tackle a dummy. • Whoever gets there the fastest is the winner. aphsfootball@yahoo.com

30. Closing • We feel that by putting our defensive linemen in real-life, game type situations we will increase production as a unit. • We have seen a steady increase in the productivity of our defensive linemen in the three years since we have introduced this concept. aphsfootball@yahoo.com