Merritt Island Christian School Cougar Football

1. Merritt Island Christian SchoolCougar Football Numbers Defense 2004

2. Contents I. Introduction II. Gaps III. Techniques Numbering IV. Positions V. Base Defense A. Run B. Pass VI. Defenses VII. Coverage's VIII. Stunts/Blitzes

3. I. Introduction The MICS “Numbers” defense is built on technique and alignment. The techniques used in our defense our taught daily to ensure muscle memory by the defensive player. The “Numbers” defense is geared to our type of personnel. As you progress through the playbook you will see the simplicity of the defense and how it can be highly effective against the numerous offensive sets that you will see. The Numbers defense will put your players in the best possible position to make plays that will ultimately lead your team to a victory on the field.

4. II. Gaps D A B C D C B A *The Gaps are lettered from A to D going from the ball outward

5. III. Numbering Technique 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 3 2 1 *The number technique is numbered 1-9 from the center out. *A shade on the nose can be a “shade to” or “shade away” call.

6. IV. Positions T-Tackles, Base is a 2 technique, A gap control in base D. E-Ends, Base is an 8 technique, C gap control, Contain man. Sam-Strong ILB, 30 technique (outside shoulder of G, 4-5 yards of ball), Strong B gap control. *Sam calls offensive strength. “Roger”-most receivers to right side, “Leo” most receivers to left side. Will- Weak ILB, 30 technique, Weak B gap control. Kat-Strong OLB, 4 yards over and off LOS from last man on LOS, D+ gap control player. Blood-Weak OLB, same alignment and responsibility on weak side as Kat. Corners-Run support players, Cover 3 base, 5-7 yards of the LOS. Free Safety- Over the center 10-12 yards off the ball, pass player first but must be able to come up and be a strong run support player.

7. V. Base Defense “22 Cover 3” E E T T B W K S C C F * “22” is the call to let our DL to know where to line up *The first # is for the strong side T, second # for the weak side T *Ends are in 8 techniques unless there us there is a 3rd # in the call (example: 227 Cover 3) *Strength call is dependent upon side with most receiver s, a balanced offense is a “Leo” call. *The “22 Cov 3” is our base call, we have variations of fronts (see “Defenses” section)

8. A. Run Defense E E T T B W K S C C F *Each position in every call has a gap responsibility, each player will have one gap Coaching Points: T-go 2 steps , go flat down LOS to the bal, keep head up to find the ball E- go 2 steps, contain players, keep everything inside, do not go up field and do not get washed down inside S/W- play the B gaps, fill any open holes, do no go backwards away from contact, force iso’s to spill to other backers K/B-Counter-Reverse-Screen-Bootleg players, then go to the ball, not contain man but must turn plays in to the ILB’s C-After initial drop read steps find ball and be run support player F-After initial drop read steps and sure of no pass become run support player

9. B. Pass Defense (Cover 3) E E T T B W K S C C F Coaching Points S/W-Hook to Curl Zone, 10-12 off LOS, 45 degree angle away from the center K/B-Flats, 7-8 yards off LOS, sideline in to the hash C-Deep outside 1/3 F-Deep Middle 1/3, deeper than the deepest receiver, must come over the top of any pass play

10. VI. Defenses

11. 30 Cover 3 E E T T B W K S C C F

12. 306 Cover 3 E E T T B W C C K S F

13. 11 Cover 3 E E T T B W C C K S F

14. 309 Cover 3 E E T T B W C C K S F

15. 115 Cover 1 B K E T T E W S C C F

16. VII. Coverage's

17. Cover 1 E E T T B W S K #2 #2 #3 #3 C C #1 F #1 Free *The Cover one is Man/Free coverage scheme. The receivers are numbered from the sideline in to the ball. *The Free must help on deep patterns.

18. Cover 2 E E T T B W S K C C F C-Flats K-Deep ½ B-Hook/Curl S-Hook/Curl W-Middle Curl F-Deep ½

19. Cover 2 Invert E E T T B W S K C C F C-Deep ½ K/B-Flats S/W- Hook/Curl F-Middle Curl

20. Cover 3 E E T T B W S K C C F C- Deep Outside 1/3 K/B-Flats S/W-Hook/Curl F-Deep Middle 1/3

21. VIII. Stunts/Blitzes

22. TOM-Tackles out *Gaps will change for ILB’s T T TIM-Tackles In T T Twist-ST goes first T T Loop-Strong or Weak Loop T E Stew-Slant to the call Stay-Slant away from the call E T E T *Numerous possibilities on line stunts but in order to keep it simple find a few effective stunts and excel in those.

23. S Sam-Blitz to Gap *All other LB position are the same call, the name of the LB is a blitz to the assigned gap. (ex: Kat, Blood, Will) *To Blitz to another gap change the blitz call, (ex: “Sock”-Sam outside, “wookie”-Will outside, “Kill”-Kat inside, “Bite”-Blood inside **IMPORTANT-Make sure all blitzers find the ball at the LOS and aim for the up field shoulder of the QB if he is in the pocket. Outside blitzers must keep contain. Defensive Back Blitzes: *Same as LB calls with the name calling the blitzer. You can change names of the stunts to change the blitz gaps.

24. As you can see the numbers defense is very simple to teach and execute. By keeping it simple coach’s can focus on teaching technique and tackling as much as possible. You can make this more complex but putting your players in the best possible position to succeed is the most important thing.