Let's talk about Defense. If you were a coach, what would you do. Would you focus on Run Defense primarily. Would you focus on Pass zone defense primarily. Would you focus on say like a 4-3, 3-4, 5-2, 4-4. What do you like or is your favorite style of defense. Would you blitz? Talk it up coach..
4-3 is easier for high school players to run IMO, but you get a lot more out of a 3-4. JMO, but if you're LBs are good go with a 3-4, if you're DL is stronger go with a 4-3. I also like going with a nickel defense if you're up against a pass heavy team, but that's something you should be able to scheme for week to week and not necessarily a staple of your defense in Kentucky high school football.
Personally from high school down to youth football I've always been a fan of 2-man under pass defense. Let your corners go man to man on the outsides with two safeties to cover over the top and middle of the field zones. I know there are players that are good enough to do it at the high school level but I've never been a fan of zone defense at the lower levels. Go man to man and see if the QB is good enough to make the throw.
STOP PUTTING KIDS ON A ISLAND!!! Idk why high school coaches think they have the kids that can play man to man. Idk how many times this philosophy is it has cost my team games. Use a safety as a safety and not another linebacker.
(12-15-2022, 01:57 PM)RAMDAD50 Wrote: [ -> ]STOP PUTTING KIDS ON A ISLAND!!! Idk why high school coaches think they have the kids that can play man to man. Idk how many times this philosophy is it has cost my team games. Use a safety as a safety and not another linebacker.
I agree with with you on all counts. I think using the safety as a linebacker is a JFL carryover where teaching lineman to "take a side" and cheating your safety up to blitz wins a lot of football games without the coaches having to know a lot about football....
(12-15-2022, 01:57 PM)RAMDAD50 Wrote: [ -> ]STOP PUTTING KIDS ON A ISLAND!!! Idk why high school coaches think they have the kids that can play man to man. Idk how many times this philosophy is it has cost my team games. Use a safety as a safety and not another linebacker.
Depends on the quality of team.
95% of teams have no business playing man.
Elite teams playing elite competition have to have the ability to play it though.
I just watched my nephew's State Championship in Georgia last week and the team they beat learned a valuable lesson in man defense and putting your athletes on an island. My nephew's school (Prince Avenue Christian) is an undefeated Private School who doesn't "look" athletic. Their Head Coach famously says they won't ever win the Pre-Game. They run a very high tempo spread offense with a very smart coaching staff that knows how to run it that typically has 5 receiving options in every pattern and a D-1 Quarterback who gets the ball where it needs to be. They are also deceptively athletic with their three primary offensive players that run a 4.55, 4.55, and 4.45 40.
The team they were playing entered undefeated as well and have legit Power 5 D-1 athletes out the yin-yang. All of which play both ways. The team they were playing (Swainsboro) thought they could win the game by "out-athleting" by constantly blitzing and letting their D-1 studs lock down in in either single high man or even zero coverage.
What ended up happening was nearly 500 passing yards and all the tempo and all the routes either forcing these two-way athletes to either run up and down the field or sideline to sideline every play eventually led to Swainsboro literally exhausting themselves and losing the game in the 4th Quarter.
Swainsboro had the players to pull off playing man defense and it worked to some extent for a Half, but even still, putting their guys constantly on an island ending up costing them everything against a team capable of out scheming them. It was actually funny once the realization set in that they were physically not able to stop the offense and had made a gross mis-calculation betting on their defense. They started playing a safety like 25-30 yards down field.
Here's the game.. though I will warn you seeing how GPB (Georgia's PBS Station) covers the State Finals absolutely free on television will make you sick thinking how crappy the product we get in KY is.
There is a difference between man defense with safety or 2 safeties or double teams (cone) than zero man. Most teams have no business in zero man EVER. I think it gets lost sometimes that poorly coached pass defense is poor whether its man or zone. It also gets lost that 95% of HS basketball teams in this state play man-to-man and no one bats an eye. Zero man is the devil.
Depends on the personnel of the team but I would prefer to run a 3-4. Your outside linebackers may be the most critical positions in this scheme because ideally you would want them to be the most versatile players on the field. In a perfect scenario, they would be able to set the edge to stop the run, provide pressure on the QB when needed, but also be athletic enough to guard slot receivers or at least drop into zone coverage for pass defense.
I am a fan of mixing coverages up because all to often teams will set in the same coverage all game and then they get burnt in the second half after the coaches have coached the QB up at halftime on what to key in on when making reads. Mixing coverages up alone will keep the majority of highschool QB's confused. I would run a mix of cover 0 and cover 3 depending on the opponent, the down, and the distance to go.
Defense is fun and defense in highschool should be especially fun so I am a fan of being aggressive and letting linebackers and secondary players pin their ears back and blitz from time to time.
I always loved the 3-4. I would put the meanest, baddest player I have,even if a little undersized at the nose. If he is good enough to require double teams the options are endless.
The 3-4 was always harder to scheme for because you didn't know where the rush was coming from. With 4-3 it is pretty much standard you will get the front 4 rushing and a blitz ever now and then. With a 3-4 you can disguise more and have way more options as who to blitz. On the back end I like a Tampa 2 style that keeps everything infront of you limiting the big play and allowing your safeties to play centerfield.I am also a proponent of getting your athletes on the field somewhere even if playing out of position.
The more stand up players you have on defense the better you will be. The days of playing a 6-2 and using four fatties to hold up the guards and tackles; two good contain guys at 9 techniques to “turn everything in”; and putting two studs at LB to each have 300 tackles their senior year are long gone.
However, what I think most have missed in this topic is the concepts of pass defense. It’s just like basketball: zone means you GUARD the MAN in your zone- not the area itself.
I think pass defense and coverage is the most deficient area of coaching and playing in the state as a whole.
Oh yeah- it (pass defense) is also FAR AND AWAY the most inconsistent and poorly officiated aspect of HS football in this state.