Answering a listener question on the best run play and RPO combinations to run against the 3-3-5 Defense.

This is an alternate method of making linebacker strength calls for your defense. Find out what you should never do with your linebackers on defense.

Offenses are always looking for a new way to attack your defense. Today's listener question looks at a one of those new ways and how we have adjusted with the 4-2-5 Defense.

We'll take a look at defending the Counter Read play out of a spread 2x2 formation against a 1-high Cover 3 4-2-5 Defense.

A big source of frustration for football coaches is keeping your athletes motivated during a long season. Or worse, during an exceptionally long off-season like many have had in 2020.

This episode takes a look at the source of motivation for athletes. Find out how coaches can create a more successful environment for your football team using success oriented goals.

This week's listener question asks what the best defensive front to run against a run-heavy schedule would be. Then we look at whether you should have multiple fronts in the plan, or changing the defensive front every week to match the opponent.

To hear your question on the JDFB Quick Clinic, send a DM to @footballinfo on Twitter, or email joe@joedanielfootball.com.

Defending screen passes is tough. Good offensive coordinators are setting you up all game long to hit a big screen play. It's a great way for them to get an athlete in space who's hard to bring down, too.

The secret to defending screen passes starts with removing that word. Stop thinking about a screen pass as a pass.

Screen plays are an extension of the run game. They are used as a constraint play for the passing game. Specifically, screen plays are a constraint against your aggressive pass rush.

No matter how good your athletes are, playing a great man coverage package takes a lot of work. Just like any other coverage you’re going to have to put in a lot of time getting the technique just right.

And if you have great athletes running man coverage with poor technique, you might really be taking away from their ability. In this episode, we take a look at how much man coverage to run when you have a great set of Defensive Backs.

Coaching the linebacker stance for your defense seems like such a simple thing. Feet apart, squat down, eyes up, back flat… you know the basic coaching cues.

But I see a lot of coaches making just a handful of mistakes that really cost your defense. You may not even know it.

The cost of mistakes in stance isn’t as obvious as bad tackling or poor key reads. But the cost to fix these stance problems is cheap. You need to do it.

I've done a lot of experimenting with different schemes, but half-slide pass protection has been the primary protection scheme in the Pistol Power Offense for several years. It just makes sense with what we do.

That's the critical key. It makes sense with what we do.

The protection scheme is intricately tied into the entire passing scheme. The check release by the back is critical to the Quarterback's trigger reads.

We usually only hear the 5-3 Defense associated with youth football defense today. For coaches trying to learn the defense, it’s hard to find as much information as you might find about a 4-4 Defense.

There’s great news though. This is a great defense for stopping the run at the youth level. But it’s actually being run at High School and College programs across the country. Just by a different name.

This episode takes a look at the basics of the 5-3 Defense, and how you can learn more about running it if you decide it is right for your football team.

When they hit the football coaching scene a few years ago, defensive coordinators were scratching their heads defending RPOs. But while it's a great tool for offenses to attack, run pass options are not as mystical as they may seem.

If you've got a good RPO team on your schedule this season, you don't need to panic and change your whole defense. Follow the 5 tips for defending RPO's in this podcast to shut 'em down.

The force player in football is responsible for turning run plays back to the spill defenders. In this episode we define the role of the force defender and how to identify who he is in your defense. I'm also answering a listener question on the force player in the 4-3 Defense with 2-high safeties.

My favorite comment when we post a new 4-2-5 Defense article or podcast to the Joe Daniel Football Facebook Page has got to be, “So it’s a nickel defense ”. You got me, dude.

There seems to be a small counsel of football terminology gatekeepers out there. No one knows who appointed them, or what authority they have. But they’re pretty sure they have it.

Today’s episode of the JDFB Quick Clinic isn’t to fight those guys. After all, they’re right! The 4-2-5 Defense and the 3-3-5 Defense are at least, in theory, a Nickel Defense.

But it is important to talk about terminology and what we mean when we say Nickel Defense. While it can certainly be used to describe a 4-2-5 Defense, and there is no harm in doing so, most coaches are not talking about the two as being one and the same.

Nickel Defense or Nickel Package?

The most common place you’ll hear coaches talking about a Nickel is really not in describing a 4-2-5 Defense. As I’ve pointed out many times, the 4-2-5 Defense that we’re running is really the same as a 4-4 Defense. I just like calling those guys safeties because it makes them feel faster.

Instead, the Nickel Defense usually isn’t a defense at all. More commonly, coaches are talking about a package in their defense. The Nickel Package is a personnel package that 4-3 Defense and 3-4 Defense coordinators use in passing situations or when there is no Tight End, to replace a Linebacker with a Defensive Back.

You probably knew that. You’re a smart guy. You’ve played Madden before.

But that’s the critical element. The Nickel Package is not a change in the actual defense. It’s just a change in one player because the skill set needed is different that the skill set the base defense requires. You need a better pass defender, or a better player in space, than your normal base defense uses.

Yes, you might have some coverage change-ups. Maybe even a special blitz or two for when the Nickel is on the field. But your core defense remains the same. You did not change from a 4-3 Defense, a 7-man front defense that uses a 2-gap Mike Linebacker, to a 4-2-5 Defense with an 8-man front and 1-gap defenders.

Is the 4-2-5 Defense a Nickel Defense?

But when you talk to a coach who says he runs a 4-2-5 Defense, what he’s really running is a variation on a 4-4 Defense. He’s got two outside linebackers that are called Safeties. Maybe they even spend the majority of their time in man coverage, or playing a deep half safety in a Split Field Coverage package.

Most coaches who run a 4-2-5 Defense don’t think of themselves as running a Nickel Defense. And truthfully most coaches who call their defense a Nickel Defense as a base package fall into the same boat. They call it a Nickel because it’s the terminology, but the thought process is the same. It’s just their defense.

These guys don’t decide to take a DB off the field and replace him with a Linebacker, then all the sudden call it their 4-3 Package.

When coaches are running a 4-2-5 Defense, they consider it the base defense. Except in extreme situations like a Double Wing Offense, they’re going to run with that base 4-2-5 Defense every week.

It comes down to one thing, and one thing only. Don’t get caught up in terminology. Or the difference between a 4-4 Defense and a 4-2-5 Defense. We don’t need gatekeepers in football coaching!

When you look at that exchange film and find out you’ll be defending a running quarterback this week, it gives you the chills. The best athlete on the field is going to have the ball in his hands on every single snap.

But don’t worry. There is hope. Check out this week’s JDFB Quick Clinic for a few simple tips to prepare your defense for that tough assignment. You can listen to the episode using the player at the bottom of this post or wherever podcasts are available.

Game Planning for Defending a Running Quarterback

There’s a few big mistakes coaches make when preparing to defend athletic QBs. We’re focusing on shutting down a quarterback that is a primary runner here. This is NOT about defending the extremely dangerous Dual Threat Quarterback. That’s a whole different discussion.

The first step to defending a running quarterback is making sure you’re really seeing what you think you are seeing. Is that play really a Zone Read? Or is it a designed QB keep? While they may look the same, the blocking scheme completely changes what you’ll be working on with your Defensive End all week.

Figure out what the plays are really designed to do. Is the QB creating on his own? Or are these carefully constructed blocking schemes to feature his athleticism? Is he reading it? Was that a play action or a keep all the way?

Diagram a few of the top plays out. This is a huge help for really understanding what an offense is trying to do. And how sophisticated the system is. I’ve included a download for a blank play sheet below – just enter your email address and it will be sent straight to your inbox.

Run Fits and Option Responsibility

The next critical piece is your run fits. High School running plays pretty much fall into two categories. Zone blocking schemes or gap blocking schemes.

So that running quarterback doesn’t really change too much. You’re still going to see one of the two. Maybe with an extra blocker, since the Quarterback is carrying the ball. But the concepts remain the same.

Are your run fits in order? If you don’t know the answer, you need to learn the Umbrella Principle for perfect run fits. Learning the Umbrella Principle and teaching it to your players also takes care of your option fits.

Build the Package for Defending a Running QB

You know what they do. You know your defense can stop them. Now you just need a few tricks up your sleeve to seal the deal.

If you have a good defensive football system, that shouldn’t be a problem. You can easily make adaptations by pulling levers to give your defense an edge. Alignment adjustments and assignment adjustments are going to be the keys here.

Just listen to this episode of the JDFB Quick Clinic to find out a couple of simple adjustments any defense can make when you’re defending a running quarterback!

Drawing up complex X's and O's on a napkin can be a lot of fun, but the best offenses often rely on very simple football plays that just plain work. Not always sexy, but they get the job done.

The inspiration for this episode was a conversation on our private Chalk Board Forum for JDFB Coaching Systems clients about some simple football plays for a youth football team. Then the topic of the Wedge Play came up. That got my thinking.

The Best Simple Football Plays

At JDFB it's always about the Coach Simple, Play Fast, Win philosophy. If you're not familiar with that yet, you can learn all about this core principle here.

The basics are this: Keep your coaching simple so that your kids understand what they are being asked to do. That gives your players confidence to execute. Confident players play fast. No paralysis by analysis. Fast kids win more football games.

I've worked with a lot of football programs. That Coach Simple philosophy has never failed. I've never had a coach come back and say, "we just didn't have enough in the playbook!"

(it is very common, after the fact, for coaches to admit they tried to do way too much)

But these simple football plays go even beyond that principle. We're talking the absolute simplest run play, and the simplest passing play you can run in this JDFB Quick Clinic.

In the run game, the clear winner is the Wedge Play. The one that started this whole conversation. In the passing game, it is the simple look pass.

Why Every Playbook Needs Simple Plays

You might have some real fancy stuff in your playbook. Maybe you're committed to the Run & Shoot passing attack. Or you've decided to run Split Back Veer. Neither of those is simple (that's not a bad thing, if you know how to teach it).

But you're still going to want some simple plays. I don't see any good reason why every single team in football shouldn't run the two simple football plays described in this podcast.

The Wedge Play is in just about every offensive playbook for good reason. It's how you block the Quarterback Sneak. I have absolutely no idea why anyone would not have this play in your playbook.

There have been times where we've literally stolen yardage just running the sneak at a soft spot in the defensive front.

The same goes for the Look pass. I've heard this given a few different names, like a quick screen. It's just a pass to a wide receiver who's being given too much cushion by the cornerback. Because it is so easy to complete, the Double Wing Offense is the only playbook that might not need to have it.

Both plays have been extremely important in my own play calling with the Pistol Power Offense System. Although they are not fancy, they are extremely easy to install and execute for solid yardage.

Listen to this podcast using the player below or in any podcatcher. And you can submit your questions to the JDFB Quick Clinic for a future episode by either emailing me at joe@joedanielfootball.com or sending me a message on Twitter @footballinfo.